Five things we learned at the Berlin double-header

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Five things we learned at the Berlin double-header

The SABIC Berlin E-Prix created some big headlines, from the Julius Baer Pole Position shock winners to the Jaguar TCS Racing making history. Here are some of our learnings from an action-packed double-header of racing.

Berlin start (2)

First Jaguar 1-2 result

Since joining Formula E in Season 3, Jaguar has enjoyed great success. Before this weekend, the British team had nine wins and made 24 podium appearances, but they never achieved the elusive, treasured result of both drivers finishing first and second - despite getting close with a 1-3 at the previous event in São Paulo.

However, that changed after Saturday's E-Prix, when Mitch Evans stormed to victory, with teammate Sam Bird finishing in second. The Jaguar duo managed to avoid the chaos of the race to make some incredible moves up the grid. Evans also finished fourth during Sunday's race, meaning the Kiwi earned 62 points in the last three rounds, a big jump compared to 14 points in the first five races of Season 9 - flinging himself into title contention and helping Jaguar climb to within 30 points of TAG Heuer Porsche at the top of the Teams' table.

Berlin start

It was also the first time Jaguar powertrains won three races consecutively, with Evans' wins in São Paulo and Berlin and Cassidy winning in Berlin on Sunday.     

Cassidy's breathing down Wehrlein's neck 

TAG Heuer Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein still clings to the championship lead, but there's a new face in second place as Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) closes up to just four points of the German driver.

READ MORE: I made it count after Saturday mistake, says Cassidy

After his win and fifth place over the two days, he has displaced Avalanche Andretti's Jake Dennis in the standings. The Kiwi is among the form drivers at the moment with four podium appearances, including that Round 8 win, from the last five rounds. That's enough to fire anyone towards the top of the table, and given how close things are right now, no easy task.

Such was his pace, the Envision driver was able to lead the final 17 laps - an "amazing" achievement, says two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne, who urged his team to "wake up" given the performance the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 is showing on-track at the moment.

Screenshot 2023-04-23 at 20.01.55

"I've been in the fight the last five races," Cassidy said. "I've had an opportunity to win nearly every weekend, and as a driver, that's a dream."

ABT-solutely incredible qualifying from ABT CUPRA

Heading into their home race, the ABT CUPRA team had no points on the table - the only team left in Season 9 in this position. However, their fortunes changed come Sunday when the rain started to fall. Having already tested their car in the rain pre-season, the team knew that it handled well in damp conditions, but nobody expected them to do quite so well here in Tempelhof. 

READ MORE: We saw an opportunity and grabbed it, says Frijns

Robin Frijns and Nico Mueller knocked out former Formula E champions on their way to lock out the grid's front row. An awe-inspiring feat considering that ABT CUPRA were the only team not to make it into the Duels so far in GEN3, and their best qualifying performance this season was 13th. 

Frijns

However, the two drivers thrived in the conditions and flew through each round to generate one of the best highlights of the season so far. Frijns on pole also gave the team their first championship points, with Mueller finishing the race in the points. The teammate's performances now mean that all teams on the grid have scored points in this new generation of Formula E in the first eight rounds. 

Exciting comparisons for GEN3

It's no secret that the new generation of Formula E has produced the fastest car the all-electric series has ever seen, but it didn't take long for records to be broken around the German circuit. 

Last year's fastest pole lap came from DS PENSKE's Jean-Eric Vergne, a time of 1m06.227s. However, this year's pole lap from Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing) in the GEN3 car was much quicker, a 1m05.605s. In that same Saturday session, reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne set a time of 1m05.393s. 

Things will only get quicker as time goes on. GEN3 is a whole new leap in tech and performance for teams to get their heads around and beating a past pole effort by such a margin on the first go is a strong start - particularly given Vergne's benchmark from last year came right at the end of the GEN2 era.

Overtaking overload 

After the madness of São Paulo and its 114 overtakes, it seemed impossible to think there could be more in Berlin. Nevertheless, Tempelhof managed it with 362 overtakes over 83 laps in two races. Even in Saturday's race, there were 190 moves across the grid in the E-Prix. 

Even towards the end of the race, drivers like race winner Cassidy had made up seven positions to take the victory, Dennis ascended five places, and home hero Maserati MSG Racing's Maximilian Guenther went from the back row and up 15 slots to finish in sixth. Mahindra Racing's Oliver Rowland also managed something similar the day before, going from 21st and into the points with 10th at the flag. 

Just proving if there were any doubt that it's not over until it's over in Formula E!