Hello and welcome to my review of race 2 of 2026 Hankook Berlin ePrix, although I want to start with 2 news items that I mentioned in yesterday's post: the reveal of Gen 4 and Porsche special livery.
I'll start with Gen 4 and in my opinion the car look okay, as the sidepods are too close to the wheels and that makes the car look like more of a box than sleek single-seater open-wheel racecar. The car will have max power output of 600kw (approximately 804bhp) available via Attack Mode and (one assumes) certain parts of qualifying as well as capable of accelerating to 100kph (62mph) in 1.8 seconds with a top speed of at least 335kph (208mph). Also the car: is 100% reusable, 20% of its key components are also 100% recyclable, has no rare earth materials in its battery, has tyres which are 65% natural and recycled materials and 30% of that is natural rubber.
The Porsche 917/20 was a combination of 917 variants: the 917LH (rear bodywork extended beyond the rear wheels, giving a long tail or in german, Langheck) and the 917K (Kurz, german for short) that ran as a one-off at 1971 Le Mans and has that pig livery because supposedly the owner of Martini (sponsor of the team set to run the car) thought it looked ugly and would not allow his brand to be on an ugly car and the front of the looked like a pig's snout, thus a pig livery. The livery details the names (in german) of the cuts of meat you can off a pig as well as where those cuts are so for example, the front bodywork has the word Rüssel which is german for snout.
The next Formula E race will be the 2026 Monaco ePrix on 16th May 2026 at 13:00 UTC and you can find out where to watch it here.

Qualifying

Group A consisted of: Edoardo Mortara, Nico Mueller, Nick Cassidy, Oliver Rowland, Sebastien Buemi, Dan Ticktum, Taylor Barnard, Jean-Eric Vergne, Norman Nato, and Felipe Drugovich. No incidents during this session, but with the abrasive surface of the circuit combined with the limited number of fresh tyres meant that a few drivers did 1 fast lap and pulled into the pits and/or used an old set of tyres and once again, the driver who topped the free practice session prior to qualifying qualified 5th in his group. The top 4 in group A and thus made it to the Duel stage were: Nick, Taylor, Felipe, and Jean-Eric.
Group B went next and consisted of Pascal Wehrlein, Mitch Evans, Antonio Felix da Costa, Jake Dennis, Josep Maria 'Pepe' Marti, Joel Eriksson, Nyck de Vries, Max Guenther, Zane Maloney, and Lucas Di Grassi. This session was similar to group A in terms of run plans, with exception being that 2 drivers (Mitch and Pepe) went out late and their fast laps came at the end of the session. The 4 that made it into Duel stage from group B were: Antonio, Joel, Zane, and Pascal.
The 1st Quarter-Final was between Felipe and Taylor, with the latter winning by 0.413 seconds and the 2nd was between Jean-Eric and Nick with the latter winning by 0.113 seconds. Quarter-Final 3 was between Zane and Joel, which saw the latter advance by 0.14 seconds and the final Quarter-Final was between Pascal and Antonio which saw the former moving on to Semi-Final 2 by 0.328 seconds. Semi-Final 1 was between Taylor and Nick, which the former won by 0.161 seconds and Semi-Final 2 was between Pascal and Joel, with the former winning by 0.547 seconds after the latter made a mistake in turn 2. The Final saw Pascal do what he failed to do in the previous qualifying final - win and he does so by 0.038 seconds. After qualifying, it was found that during group stages Max had impeded Jake whilst the latter was on a fast lap and was thus penalised 3 grid places so will start 14th despite qualifying 11th.

Race

Overall Drivers' Championship

Mitch Evans wins his 16th ePrix, extending the all-time record, from Oliver Rowland in 2nd and Pascal Wehrlein in 3rd. There are some incidents in this race and they either happen early on or towards the end. The first incident is on lap 4 where from inside to outside: Sebastien Buemi, Edoardo Mortara, Nyck de Vries, and Nick Cassidy go 4 wide through turn 6 and collide, with Nyck and Nick come off worse, particularly the former as he picks up race-ending suspension damage (he can still drive it back to the pits) while the latter loses track position. Nick is not so lucky through turn 5 a couple of laps later, where on lap 8 Joel Eriksson lifts off earlier than expected, forcing his teammate behind him to slow down and Nick doesn't slow down enough,so he clips Sebastien (he had Edoardo on his outside, there was no where else for him to go) and he accrues significant damage to his front wing, thus he has to pit for a new one and this effectively kills his race so he retires with 2 laps to go. The next incident happens on lap 32 (we never see it properly live, it is in the background of a shot) Nico Mueller goes to the left-hand side of Antonio Felix da Costa down the main straight in an attempt to pass, except the gap between Antonio and the wall is not completely as wide as a Formula E car and Mueller loses part of his front wing and Antonio picks up a puncture that manifests itself about 2 laps later. With debris on the track, race direction correctly throw a red and yellow striped flag, indicating that the race surface up ahead is hazardous (usually due to oil or water and thus often referred to as the 'slippery surface' flag), but the race broadcast's graphics package treats this as yellow flag. You are not supposed to overtake under a yellow flag, but can under a red and yellow striped flag, so on lap 34 Oliver overtakes Pascal for 2nd but to everyone else, including the commentary team, this is done under yellow. The light panel on the main straight is lit in yellow, although with a sort of a reddish tinge to it, making it look almost orange - maybe something to look at in the near future Formula E?
Normally, in this section, I give brief overview of the race but for these 2 Berlin races, the extreme energy saving needed meant most of the action, with exception of the incident mentioned above, meant nothing and thus not worth commenting on. The winning strategy used by Mitch Evans began all the way back in qualifying as he did the bare minimum for that session (going out late on old tyres), meaning he has a fresh set for the upcoming race and is already in the back and can save energy without the risk of someone tripping over him as he does so. The problem lies with the circuit as it is too quick and the cars do not have ample time/areas to recover energy, so you must save at every available opportunity. Also, more energy is wasted being upfront, so you don't want to lead too much early on, because the point in which you can go flat out with energy gets later and later in the race so it becomes more EFFICIENT for you to hang back in someone else's slipstream and if everyone is doing that then you end up with 11 different lap leaders (a Formula E record). With Gen 4 on the horizon, suggesting any changes is a moot point, but in an effort to avoid a similar style of racing I propose 2 ideas to fix the racing at Berlin Templehof Airport Circuit: 1; slow the circuit down and 2; give the drivers more energy. By adding some slow sections into the circuit layout, you give the drivers obvious places to regenerate energy as well as more opportunities to do so, meaning the point in which they can go flat out is earlier because they reach the necessary amount of energy earlier. By giving the drivers more energy, they don't need to save as much, bringing that flat out point earlier in the race and traditionally a Formula E car has enough energy to complete 60% race distance flat out, so allowing the drivers to have enough energy to complete 75-80% race distance flat out means that they will still have to save, but it won't be as extreme as it is now.
A quick point about those 11 different lap leaders, 8 of them finished inside the top 10, with only Taylor Barnard, Max Guenther, and Nick Cassidy being the ones on the outside (the 2 inside the top 10 that didn't lead were the Andretti Formula E driver of Jake Dennis and Felipe Drugovich).

1. Pascal Wehrlein (+1)
2. Mitch Evans (+1)
3. Edoardo Mortara (-2)
4. Oliver Rowland (+2)
5. Nico Mueller (-1)
6. Jake Dennis (+2)

All drivers have more points under the alternative format compared to real life and the driver who has the most points compared to real life is Max Guenther, who has 29 more points under the alternative format (37) compared to real life (8). There are differences between the standings and the driver who gains the most position's under the alternative format is Max again, who is 13th under alternative format compared to 17th in real life, while the drivers who loses the most positions is Dan Ticktum who drops 4 places to be 16th under the alternative format, but is 11th in real life.
Below are the overall Drivers' Championship standings:

Customer Trophy for Drivers

The class is won by Sebastien Buemi with 2nd in class going to Jake Dennis and 3rd to Felipe Drugovich who scores his first class podium in the season. Joel Eriksson leads out of turn 2 until turn 6 where Felipe sweeps round to take the class lead then a lap later Joel takes the lead back at the same corner. A lap later Sebastien Buemi sneaks through on the inside of turns 6 and 7 for the class lead, but Joel takes it back on the through turn 3 on the next lap. The next change for class lead occurs on lap 8 through turn 8 as Sebastien takes the lead from his teammate. Joel takes the lead back at the start of lap 12, only for Sebastien to retake it through turn 12 on lap 14. When Sebastien takes his first Attack Mode on lap 20, the lead is returned to Joel but Sebastien takes it back on lap 21 through turn 6 thanks to Attack Mode. Attack Mode helps Jake Dennis hit the front of the class on lap 24 on the exit of turn 10 (presumed, we don't actually see the overtake) and Attack Mode helps Sebastien take the lead back through turn 1 on lap 29 which he maintains for the rest of the race. There is no change to the standings for the first time since Miami.
Below are the Customer Trophy for Drivers standings:

Nelson Piquet Jr Trophy

The winner of the class is Felipe Drugovich, claiming his first NPJT win, with 2nd going to Joel Eriksson and 3rd to Pepe Marti, who is now the only NPJT driver without a class win. Joel leads out of turn 2 until turn 6 where Felipe sweeps round to take the class lead then a lap later Joel takes the lead back at the same corner. Felipe retakes the lead on lap 10, passing Joel through turn 1 although, he and Joel go side by side through turns 2 to 5 on the next lap but he manages to hold on briefly as Joel takes the lead back on the exit of turn 10 on the same lap. Joel relinquishes the lead when he takes his first Attack Mode on lap 19 to Zane Maloney and gets the lead back at the start of the next lap and leads until turn 12 of lap 22 when Nico Mueller hits the front of the class for the first time this race. The incident with Antonio Felix da Costa on lap 33 doesn't initially hurt his class lead, but loses it Pepe Marti at some point in sector 1 during lap 34. Pepe doesn't hold the lead for long, as at some point during sector 2 on lap 34, Felipe re-inherits the class lead which he keeps until the end. There is no change of championship position but the fight for 2nd in the championship (the true championship fight) hots up as there is only 4 points between 2nd and 4th.
Below are the Nelson Piquet Jr Trophy standings:

Overall Teams' Championship

Despite Jaguar TCS Racing winning, Porsche Formula E Team continue lead the standings under both formats with Jaguar and Mahindra Racing 2nd and 3rd respectively under the both formats, as Jaguar only claw 1 point on Porsche. Porsche are the only team not to score more points under the alternative format, as they tie their real life points score of 176. There is 1 change between the 2 formats in terms of the standings as Envision Racing are ahead of Citroen Racing Formula E Team under the alternative format for 5th in the standings, but are behind in real life to be 6th instead. The biggest gainer in terms of points is DS Penske who have 50 more points under the alternative format (76) compared to real life (26). Under the alternative format, Envision tie Nissan in terms of points, but are behind due to Nissan having multiple podiums to Envision's 1.
Below are the overall Teams' Championship standings:

Customer Teams' Championship

With their 4th class win this season, Envision Racing lead the Customer Team's Championship with 142 points over Andretti Formula E, who have 137 points, while Cupra Kiro are 3rd on 112 points. If Felipe Drugovich can continue to put in results like he had in this race, then I think Andretti could take the title, but my money at this point is still on Envision.
Below are the Customer Teams' Championship standings:

Manufacturers' Cup

Porsche continues to lead the standings in Manufacturers' Cup under both formats with points total of 200 (alternative) and 228 (real life). Jaguar and Stellantis are still 2nd and 3rd respectively in the standings under both formats. There is no difference in the standings between the 2 formats except for the points totals as Porsche and Jaguar are the only manufacturers to have less points under the alternative format, with Jaguar having the biggest discrepancy at 30 points. The biggest gainer in terms of points is still Lola-Yamaha, whose 79 points under the alternative format is 55 points greater than their real life total of 24.
Below are the Manufacturers' Cup standings: