BERLIN, Germany – Mercedes-EQ’s Nyck de Vries captured the Formula E championship in dramatic fashion during the season finale Sunday at the Tempelhof Airport temporary circuit.
De Vries found himself in prime position to secure the championship when two of his title rivals were eliminated on the opening lap. Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans failed to move from his starting slot when the race began, with ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara crashing into the back of the Kiwi to force an instant red flag and delay the start of the race.
The competition for the title was subsequently thrown wide open – as Mortara began the race in second place in the standings, with Evans in fourth.
The drama did not end there as BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Jake Dennis – who began the race in third in the standings – quickly suffered technical issues, later claiming battery failure while lifting to save energy. His car stopped on track within the first minutes of the race, leading to a caution flag to collect his car.
There was further drama as the fourth of de Vries’ title challengers – reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa of DS TECHEETAH – was forced into the wall while trying to overtake Saturday’s race winner Lucas di Grassi. The move caused another caution and a penalty for di Grassi.
Through all the chaos, de Vries avoided everything and finished eighth to claim his first Formula E championship by seven points ahead of Mortara. Dennis ended up third, eight points back of de Vries.
“I’m lost for words. It’s been such a tough season with highs and lows,” said de Vries. “Everything came down to the last race and I think we had a lot of fortune on our side today with everything that happened. I’m glad that everyone is OK from the incident at the start. I think we drove an incredible race, we had really good pace in the car, but at the same time, I felt like a target as well, it seemed like nobody was really respecting anything. So, at this point I just wanted to bring it home. My team were telling me to fight Jean-Eric Vergne, but I wasn’t sure why it was important, so I was getting frustrated that they didn’t want to tell me. Then the other drivers kept hitting me; left, right, front, rear. I wasn’t really happy with that, so I was a bit grumpy straight after the race. But now it’s starting to sink in.”
Sunday’s finale was won by ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Norman Nato, who finished more than two seconds clear of runner-up Oliver Rowland.