I love the place, truth be told. Steeped in aviation history back to some of the earliest days of flight, eventually opening as an airport in 1923. Remodelled dramatically into the imposing terminal building during the lead up to the Second World War. Site of the Berlin Air Lift of 1948. Closed as an airport in 2008 and the runways repurposed as a public park. The terminal building quiet.
I visited Berlin in the summer of 2014. Went to Tempelhof and took a tour of the airport buildings, walking around the old departures hall, through the hangers, into the air raid shelters, past the bowing alley and basketball court of the US Air Force base hidden somewhere up in the roof line and out under the old cantilevered canopy. We were been taken out onto the baking concrete apron where, whilst shaded by the wing of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster, I quietly thought to myself… ‘They’re going to hold a Formula E race here next year…’
Ten years on from that day, and they’re still holding Formula E races at Tempelhof. A survivor in a series with a fairly high turn over rate for venues, the Berlin ePrix by now weaving its way firmly into the post airport-era of the historic site. Part of FE’s inaugural season, and the lifeboat venue for the covid-hit 2020 season, championships have been won and lost on this historic concrete. And this year, we race again… at Tempelhof.
NEW LAYOUT
This year we are seeing a wholly new layout for the first time since 2017. The 2020 event gave us a reverse layout and a slightly modified, twistier layout to spice things up during the to races held there to close out the season, but the fundamentals of the track were the same. This year is different. The Start/Finish line, pit lane, grandstands and eVillage have all. Been moved to the south side of the apron, close to Tempelhofer Feld rather than the old airport terminal. Much of the character reminds the same, but allowing for a little more flow and perhaps a little more speed, closing out with a ‘tricky’ triple apex feature. See a virtual lap here.
STORY OF THE SEASON
Broadly speaking we’re still in a Porsche vs Jaguar scenario. Pascal Wehrlein leads the standings with 102 points going into his and his Porsche’s home race, with two wins to his name so far. Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy is hot on his heels with 95, whilst his team currently have a solid command of the teams points table with 172 to Porsche’s 128. Nissan’s Oliver Rowland has had his best season yet, being a potential surprise contender should he keep things up. Berlin weekend could be pivotal moment in the Championship hunt.
https://www.youtube....h?v=b-gvKvRfxJc
SUPERSUB DRIVERS
Due to a regrettable clash with the WEC race at Spa, teams and drivers in both championships have had to make some compromises. Jean-Éric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne are racing for DS Penske in Berlin, vacating their Peugeot LMH seats in WEC. Porsche avoided the problem entirely by compartmentalising their FE and WEC drivers. However, Sébastien Buemi and Nyck de Vries are Toyota-bound, Nico Müller is taking his Peugeot spot and Robin Frijns is doing duty with BMW. This means we have substitutions:
Envision Racing
Sébastien Buemi —> Paul Aron
Robin Frijns —> Joel Eriksson
Mahindra
Nyck de Vries —> Jordan King
ABT Cupra
Nico Müller —> Kelvin van der Linde
McLaren
Sam Bird (Wrist Injury) —> Taylor Barnard
TIMETABLE
Local | UK
Friday, 10th May
FP1 - 17:00 | 16:00
Saturday 11th May
FP2 - 08:00 | 07:00
Qualifying - 10:20 | 09:20
Race 1 (40 Laps) - 15:00 | 14:00
Sunday 12th May
FP3 - 08:00 | 07:00
Qualifying - 10:20 | 09:20
Race 1 (38 Laps) - 15:00 | 14:00
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Edited by Ben1445, 12 May 2024 - 12:45.
