Stoffel Vandoorne claimed the Formula E Race at Home title after finishing second to Oliver Rowland, which was good enough to usurp erstwhile points leader Pascal Wehrlein.
Vandoorne’s joy contrasted with Wehrlein’s pain after the Mahindra driver was tapped into a spin by his title rival on the first lap in an incident triggered by an accordion-affect inside involving Edoardo Mortara and Sebastien Buemi.
Mortara appeared to hit Buemi, who in turn glanced Vandoorne’s Mercedes-Benz EQ machine.
This then caused Vandoorne to rotate Wehrlein, who then tumbled down the order and re-joined in 21st position.
.@svandoorne into @PWehrlein and chaos between the two potential winner of the entire #RaceAtHome Challengehttps://t.co/9KqVKEr3qA pic.twitter.com/v8cko4gYbt
— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 7, 2020
Wehrlein initially embarked on what looked to be an epic recovery drive but his progress soon petered out with suspected damage from the incident and he was confined to a battle for the final points only – before ultimately being struck with a post-race penalty for his involvement in the lap one incident.
“I’m really happy to win this championship but it has been a tough day let’s say,” said Vandoorne, who ended the virtual championship with a 24 point lead.
“The start was really chaotic but I got alongside Pascal on the outside and then in to turn two I got bumped from behind which then sent Pascal into a spin.”
A dominant Rowland toasted a Berlin double, after taking his inaugural win at the Tempelhof airfield venue last month, with an assured display from pole-position as he built a useful gap to a title aware and conservative Vandoorne.
Nissan edams driver, Rowland topped off a stellar weekend to add the final Formula E win to his The Race All-Star victory at Monaco on Saturday night.
It’s a race win for @oliverrowland1 – but a series win for @svandoorne in the @FIAFormulaE Race At Home Challenge! pic.twitter.com/diTYkx3tQx
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) June 7, 2020
Maximilian Guenther grabbed the final podium position for BMW i Andretti Motorsport but lost third to Rowland in the points standings.
Mortara recovered from the first lap melee initially to fifth but he was able to vault Sebastien Buemi for fourth in the second half of the race.
Jaguar’s James Calado took sixth place having found a clean gap through the opening lap carnage to leap from 14th on the grid to sixth. He was even able to challenge Buemi at the end but just fell short of claiming the position.
Nyck de Vries claimed his best result so far with seventh place heading home a fraught battle which involved Felipe Massa, Antonio Felix da Costa, Kelvin Van Der Linde, and the recovering Wehrlein.
Amid multiple contacts and several overtaking moves this battle eventually meant Massa held onto eighth, with Van Der Linde finishing ninth in his battered Audi.
Post-event penalties for Da Costa and Wehrlein’s part in the incidents in the final exchanges ensured that Andre Lotterer got the final point for 10th position ahead of the penalised pair.
