Formula E Finale Preview: Who will become champion?

It has been a very long break for Formula E. Marrakesh seems such a long time ago and a lot has happened since then.

Every motorsport series has had to react and think on its feet and Formula E has come up with a revolutional finale to conclude the season. Six races over eight days in Berlin using three different layouts with a champion to be crowned come on 13 August.

When?

Races 1 and 2: Wednesday 5th August, Thursday 6th August

Races 3 and 4: Saturday 8th August, Sunday 9th August

Races 5 and 6: Wednesday 12th August, Thursday 13th August

Qualifying at 13:15 and the race at 18:00 (UK time) for every race day

Track Layouts

Layout One (5th and 6th August)

The reverse circuit of the normal Berlin ePrix. Expect to see lots of overtaking and side by side action in the first sector with turn four now proving to be a fast right hander with very little run-off area.

Finding traction coming off the final corner without sliding the car too much will be a real challenge, given that the tyres will be hurting and the drivers will want to lose as little time as possible on the run up to the finish line.

Layout Two (8th and 9th August)

The layout used for the most recent Formula E races at Berlin’s Tempelhof. Well-known to the drivers.

We often see clean racing here with the width of the track and the circuit is relatively quick making battery management tough.

Layout Three (12th and 13th August)

A new layout which sees a very twisty section added to the original track. This is going to be very difficult to get right with a series of medium speed corners that is similar to the Hungaroring.

This sector is where the time will be won and lost in qualifying.

Championship contenders and what to expect

Antonio Felix Da Costa leads the championship in a season that has seen five different winners from five races.

Mitch Evans and Jaguar have proved to be a very strong combination and things climaxed when they dominated the Mexico ePrix and came through the field to rescue a sixth place in Marrakesh from the back of the grid.

BMW arguably have the strongest car. It is very efficient and relatively comfortable to drive, allowing the drivers to push hard whenever they want which opens up the strategy options.

Their drivers Alexander Sims and Maximilian Gunther are third and fourth in the standings, both with one win apiece.

And then we have Lucas Di Grassi, 29 points behind Da Costa but you just cannot rule him out. Audi and Di Grassi have been very strong at Berlin, with the latter taking four podiums at the Tempelhof in the last four races there.

Daniel Abt, now with the NIO team, was dominant with Audi in 2018 at Berlin to take a home win so Audi have got form in Germany.

Berlin’s Tempelhof is unique to the Formula E calendar. It is not your typical street circuit so it is not as dirty offline and conditions remain relatively constant.

Yet, it is still very bumpy and the surface is abrasive and slippery which punishes the tyres. With track temperatures expected to be above 30 degrees celcius, there might be a lot of tyre wear which is unusual in Formula E.

Formula E’s unique qualifying format has proved unpopular with some of the drivers as the drivers at the top of the championship get the worst of the track conditions in group qualifying.

This should not be a major problem in Berlin compared to other street races, plus with so much rubber set to be laid down track evolution will be less of a factor as the week goes on.

Something that might be a problem for teams that have two drivers in championship contention, BMW with Gunther and Sims and Techeetah with Da Costa and Vergne, is that they might cost each other time and positions compared to Evans and Di Grassi who will get priority at their respective teams.

However, for Di Grassi he will have a new teammate in Rene Rast who replaces Daniel Abt after Audi sacked him earlier this year for cheating in a Formula E Esports event.

Personally I’m a massive fan of Rast. Dominant in the Porsche Supercup Series, adapted very well from Porsche to Audi in various GT races and championship and is the current DTM champion looking to defend his title this year.

It is not his first appearance in Formula E having drove for Team Aguri in 2016, funnily enough at Berlin. If he can adapt quickly to the unique style of Formula E he could play a pivotal part in the championship battle.

With driver contracts ending at the end of July, there have been so many mid-season driver changes. As mentioned, Abt was kicked out of Audi but has landed a seat with NIO, Pascal Wehrlein has left Mahindra (he is also likely to drive for Porsche next season), Alex Lynn replaces Werhelin.

Red Bull reserve driver Sergio Sette Camara will make his Formula E debut after Brendon Hartley left Dragon with immediate effect.

After the first round of tests, there have been two positive cases of coronavirus most notably Mahindra Team Principal Dilbagh Gill.

Gill has shown no symptoms and flew in from London and is now set to miss most of the Berlin finale.

Anyone who has a positive test for COVID-19 in Berlin will have to self isolate in a hotel room so lets hope that we don’t see any more cases of coronavirus.

Lets finish off with some final thoughts. Typically Formula E is very dramatic and we can expect at least one of the six ePrix to be pure mayhem.

For the championship contenders they simply need to stay out of trouble and the driver and team that makes the least mistakes should come out on top.

There will be action, there will be thrills and maybe a few spills. The intensity is going to be sky-high all week so lets find out who can deal with the pressure.

Action gets underway later today at 5pm UK time with the Shakedown.

Don’t miss it!