Yesterday at 12:53
Reigning world champion Pascal Wehrlein further increased the title
pressure on Oliver Rowland, after securing a dominant pole for the
second race of the Formula E Berlin E-Prix. The Porsche driver was
unstoppable on his way to pole, whilst a five-place grid penalty
for hitting Stoffel Vandoorne on Saturday has demoted Rowland to
eighth on the grid. To secure pole, Wehrlein defeated Dan Ticktum
in the final on home soil for both himself and the team, whilst the
second row is formed by Antonio Felix da Costa and Robin Frijns.
Duels In the final, Wehrlein was one-tenth quicker than Ticktum
through both the first and second sectors, giving him a much-needed
advantage in the final sector where time was lost. Ticktum gained
just over one-tenth back in the final corners, but it was not
enough to deny Wehrlein pole on a 57.850s. To reach the final,
Wehrlein first defeated Nico Müller in the quarter-finals, before
demolishing his team-mate in the semi-finals. As for Ticktum, he
went quicker than Taylor Barnard and then Rowland to rech the
final. In the other two quarter-finals, Rowland eliminated Stoffel
Vandoorne, whilst da Costa went faster than Frijns. By securing
pole, Wehrlein has reduced Rowland's championship lead to 47
points, meaning the Nissan driver must score 11 points more than
the German in the race to win the world title. Group stage With
rain not falling, lap times improved quickly at the Tempelhof
Airport. Lucas di Grassi did not take part in the opening group,
following a huge crash in third practice. Big Crashes remained a
theme in the dying seconds of the first group, as Jake Hughes
triggered a red flag with 54 seconds remaining after a heavy
accident at Turn 2. Staggeringly, his best lap time being deleted
promoted Rowland into the duels, a saving grace for the Nissan
driver. Vandoorne topped the group, ahead of Barnard and Ticktum.
Lap times continued to improve rapidly in the second group, with
sub one-minute laps having returned. There was no stopping
Wehrlein, who set a 59.048s lap to go quickest in the group by
three-tenths, ahead of da Costa. Frijns and Müller also progressed
to the duels.
