BMW’s Jake Dennis moved clear of his Formula E title rivals with a blistering 1m06.228s lap in the final practice session ahead of the opening Berlin race on Saturday morning.
Friday had been a superb day for Dennis, as he was announced as staying on at the Andretti team for 2022 after BMW’s factory exit, and then led the way in the afternoon practice session that began Formula E’s 18-way title decider weekend.
In practice two his late lap initially put him 0.319s clear – a margin that had covered the entire top 15 on Friday.
Dennis begins the weekend fourth in the championship, thanks to two wins in his rookie season. He’s 14 points off the lead but has to qualify in the potentially unfavourable group 1 for only the second time.
Lucas di Grassi – also driving for a departing German manufacturer in Audi – narrowed that gap to 0.154s, but even that was the same amount that the whole top 10 had been within yesterday.
Championship leader Nyck de Vries was the top Mercedes in third, ahead of current second in the points man Robin Frijns for Envision Virgin and the Porsche of Pascal Wehrlein.
The second BMW of Maximilian Guenther – who is fighting against American opposition including former IndyCar racer Oliver Askew to keep his seat – and second Mercedes of Stoffel Vandoorne were next up, with DS Techeetah’s pair of past champions Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne eighth and ninth.
Norman Nato, Sergio Sette Camara and Oliver Turvey all managed to get among the 18 title contenders as they took 10th, 11th and 13th.
Jaguar was worryingly low key at a track where it had a very costly 2020 struggle that destroyed its title hopes. Sam Bird and Mitch Evans were only 12th and 15th.
Nick Cassidy was the slowest of the championship protagonists in 22nd.
It is not yet clear whether Formula E will carry out track sweeping before qualifying.
The decision will have a major bearing on track conditions for qualifying and whether the championship leaders are disadvantaged, but Formula E plans to assess the level of ‘marble’ build-up before making that call.
Practice 2 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Car | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Dennis | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.21 | 1m06.228s | ||
| 2 | Lucas Di Grassi | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Audi e-tron FE07 | +0.154s | +0.154s | 1m06.382s |
| 3 | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes-Benz EQ | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | +0.165s | +0.319s | 1m06.547s |
| 4 | Robin Frijns | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE07 | +0.078s | +0.397s | 1m06.625s |
| 5 | Pascal Wehrlein | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E | Porsche 99X Electric | +0.005s | +0.402s | 1m06.63s |
| 6 | Maximilian Günther | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.21 | +0.016s | +0.418s | 1m06.646s |
| 7 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes-Benz EQ | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | +0.047s | +0.465s | 1m06.693s |
| 8 | António Félix da Costa | DS Techeetah | DS E-Tense FE21 | +0.018s | +0.483s | 1m06.711s |
| 9 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Techeetah | DS E-Tense FE21 | +0.003s | +0.486s | 1m06.714s |
| 10 | Norman Nato | RokIT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | +0.002s | +0.488s | 1m06.716s |
| 11 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | Dragon / Penske Autosport | Penske EV-5 | +0.016s | +0.504s | 1m06.732s |
| 12 | Sam Bird | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type 5 | +0.022s | +0.526s | 1m06.754s |
| 13 | Oliver Turvey | NIO 333 Formula E Team | NIO 333 001 | +0.006s | +0.532s | 1m06.76s |
| 14 | Edoardo Mortara | RokIT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | +0.023s | +0.555s | 1m06.783s |
| 15 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type 5 | +0.011s | +0.566s | 1m06.794s |
| 16 | Alexander Sims | Mahinda Racing | Mahindra M7Electro | +0.006s | +0.572s | 1m06.8s |
| 17 | René Rast | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Audi e-tron FE07 | +0.057s | +0.629s | 1m06.857s |
| 18 | Alex Lynn | Mahinda Racing | Mahindra M7Electro | +0.025s | +0.654s | 1m06.882s |
| 19 | Tom Blomqvist | NIO 333 Formula E Team | NIO 333 001 | +0.171s | +0.825s | 1m07.053s |
| 20 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM03 | +0.003s | +0.828s | 1m07.056s |
| 21 | André Lotterer | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E | Porsche 99X Electric | +0.015s | +0.843s | 1m07.071s |
| 22 | Nick Cassidy | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE07 | +0.038s | +0.881s | 1m07.109s |
| 23 | Sébastien Buemi | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM03 | +0.069s | +0.95s | 1m07.178s |
| 24 | Joel Eriksson | Dragon / Penske Autosport | Penske EV-5 | +0.181s | +1.131s | 1m07.359s |
