Formula E: Nico Müller started the weekend in Berlin with a victory

      Starting from pole position in the Saturday Formula E race in Berlin was Edoardo Mortara, but the second fastest time in qualifying was shown by Pascal Wehrlein, the driver for the factory Porsche team, who leads the individual standings of the electric series and was certainly eager to stand out.

      Firstly, this is a home race for the 2024 champion and his team; secondly, his advantage after the first five rounds is only 8 points, and of course, Pascal was determined to increase it. However, as the events unfolded, it was not he who climbed to the top of the podium, but his teammate, Nico Müller.

      Mortara had a great start, but Oliver Rowland, the Nissan driver and reigning world champion who started third, quickly moved into second place. Soon, Wehrlein was pushed down to fourth by Nick Cassidy, who is racing for Citroen this season, and then Pascal also let Zane Maloney (Lola) and Max Günther (DS Penske) pass.

      By the fifth lap, the leader of the race had changed to Oliver Rowland, although it was clear that this was far from the final picture, as tactical battles until the last laps are characteristic of Formula E, aimed at achieving the main goal – crossing the finish line first. The positions held in the early laps are not that important.

      By the seventh lap, Maloney took the lead, but only for a short time, as he was soon overtaken by Günther and Mortara; however, none of them could counter Cassidy's next breakthrough, who started the 10th lap in the lead.

      But on that same lap, an unexpected maneuver was made by Lucas di Grassi, who recently announced his impending retirement: the Brazilian veteran overtook several competitors at once and took the lead in the race. Even more interesting was that Maloney, his teammate, settled into second place for a while, and two bright yellow-blue Lola cars with Yamaha powertrains were leading the way.

      It is also curious that by this point, a third of the distance had already been covered, but no one had yet taken advantage of the Attack Mode power boost; everyone was saving it for later stages of the race.

      On the 16th lap, Cassidy attacked again and regained the lead: meanwhile, the Lola drivers slowed down and lost several positions, but it seemed that this was also done for tactical reasons.

      The moment for the planned pit stop was approaching, during which an express recharge of the batteries takes place, and this circumstance always affects the choice of tactics. The first to turn into the pit lane were António Félix da Costa, the Jaguar driver, and Wehrlein, but Pascal was unlucky – he also had to lose time due to the need to replace a punctured right rear tire.

      The race passed the halfway point, and all but the top five had made their pit stops, but soon di Grassi turned into the pits. Then the other drivers from the leading group followed his example, and when all this pit stop chaos ended, it unexpectedly turned out that Nico Müller, who started the race in sixth and had long remained in the shadows, had taken the lead.

      The Porsche driver wisely used Attack Mode and managed to extend his lead to almost five seconds, which is rare in Formula E. It should be emphasized that although Nico is considered one of the most experienced drivers in Formula E, this is only his first victory in the electric series, which he achieved on his 69th attempt.

      Nick Cassidy finished second, and Oliver Rowland took third place. Points were also earned by Mortara, Jake Dennis, Mitch Evans, Pepe Marti, Taylor Barnard, Nyck de Vries, and António Félix da Costa.

      Tomorrow, the second race of the Berlin Formula E weekend will take place, but once again, I would like to "send greetings" to the organizers of the electric series, who seem to deliberately schedule their events on the same days when other, somewhat more important events in the world of motorsport are taking place.