Porsche's da Costa Wins Home Race in Berlin E-Prix
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Antonio Felix da Costa took the chequered flag for a record-setting third win at Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit to give TAG Heuer Porsche their first win on German soil in Formula E.
The Portuguese international led through much of the initial Attack Mode activations after fighting back from starting in ninth place on the grid. Costa and his Porsche teammate Pascal Wehrlein did well to hold off intense pressure from Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans in their Jaguars.
After a sequence of heavy battling, Da Costa used a late break into the hairpin to force Evans out-wide for an advantage that would give the 31-year-old driver a slim lead on the 31st lap.
After starting from 16th on the grid, Nissan’s Oliver Rowland looked to capitalize on on Evans’ mistake as well, but was unable to apply much pressure after the New Zealander took his second 50kW activation. Cassidy would then battle back, overtaking both his teammate and Rowland, en route to a second place finish while recording the race’s fastest lap.
No driver would be able to catch da Costa, clinching his first victory since 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. He is the eight different driver to win a race in Formula E this season.
Porsche narrowly missed out on putting two drivers in the top three, as Wehrlein claimed fourth behind Cassidy and Rowland. Reigning Formula E champion Jake Dennis (Andretti) started on pole, but was only able to secure a fifth place finish.
Evans would follow in sixth, while Maserati’s Jehan Daruvala secured his best-ever finish in Formula E in seventh.
Taylor Barnard raced in place of Sam Bird for NEOM McLaren, with the 18-year-old improving on his starting position of 18th to an eight place finish.
Envision’s Joel Eriksson enjoyed his best finish in ninth, with Jean-Eric Vergne (DS PENSKE) coming in 10th.
After earning 45-points in Germany, Cassidy (140 points) leads by 16 over Wehrlein for first place in the Drivers’ standings. Rowland stays in third place with 118 points after 10 rounds this season.
Jaguar TCS Racing now sit on 237 points over Porsche’s 183 in the Teams’ standings. Nissan’s 144 points are good for third, leading by 17 over fourth-place PENSKE.
The Formula E season continues in China as the setting shifts to Shanghai for a doubleheader on May 25 & 26.