E-Prix Berlin: Rowland crowned Formula E World Champion

After the race weekend in Berlin, the British driver is leading the drivers’ standings with 184 points. He can thus no longer be caught by last year’s champion Pascal Wehrlein (currently 125 points) during the season finale with its two races in London. The event at ExCeL London takes place on 26 and 27 July. It is the first time since 2020 that the drivers’ title has been decided with two races remaining. In recent years, the champion was always crowned in London. In 2020, current Porsche driver Felix Antonio da Costa also sealed the title in Berlin (though it was not yet an official World Championship back then). At the time, six races were held in Berlin due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rowland had his first chance to seal the deal already on Saturday in the 13th race of the season. Starting from third position, he actually had good prospects, as rival Wehrlein from the Porsche team had only qualified ninth. However, in the rain-affected race, Nissan driver Rowland retired and remained point-less, while Wehrlein finished second to keep the race to the title undecided.

Saturday’s race was won by Mitch Evans in the works Jaguar. With the victory, the New Zealander ended a negative run: after his win at the season opener in Brazil, Evans went eleven races without scoring, despite being seen as one of the favourites this season. The Jaguar driver endured several setbacks. Behind Evans and Wehrlein, Edoardo Mortara finished third for Mahindra.

And on a rainless Sunday, it initially looked as though Wehrlein could keep the championship battle alive until London: the German put his Porsche on pole ahead of Dan Ticktum in last year’s Cupra-Kiro Porsche and his team-mate da Costa, while Rowland started only from eighth. Wehrlein also led the field from the start until lap 29 of 41.

However, the temporary circuit at Tempelhof is known as one of the most energy-intensive on the calendar. With no slipstream at the front, Wehrlein’s consumption was too high, and he had to manage his energy towards the end of the race, while many drivers behind were able to drive more efficiently. The race was won by Jaguar driver Nick Cassidy ahead of Jake Dennis in the Andretti-Porsche and Jean-Eric Vergne in the DS Penske – all three having started from P20, P16 and P18 respectively.

As Wehrlein dropped back and ultimately finished 15th without points, Rowland was able to let Cassidy, Dennis and Vergne through in the final laps while managing his energy. In any case, consistency has been key for the Nissan driver this season: the Briton has only failed to score on three occasions, winning four of the 14 races so far and finishing second in three more – he also secured pole position three times, worth an additional three championship points. Wehrlein, who claimed the title last year through similar consistency, has only won once this season, with three second places and a third, and five retirements.

The drivers’ title is thus settled, but the team championship remains open: Porsche currently leads with 228 points, ahead of Nissan with 205. While Porsche has both drivers in the top four (125 for Wehrlein and 103 for da Costa), Rowland has single-handedly kept Nissan in contention with 184 of their 205 points.

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