André Lotterer and Pascal Wehrlein gave the Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team a positive end to the 2020-21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season by finishing fourth and sixth in the second race of the Berlin E-Prix on Sunday.
After failing to score a point in Saturday’s race at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit, Lotterer was in contention throughout the afternoon on Sunday and was a genuine threat for a podium place right until the chequered flag.
A late and robust move on Mahindra Racing’s Alexander Sims moved him up to fourth, but he was too far behind Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team’s Stoffel Vandoorne to make a decisive move for a place on the podium. It left Lotterer seventeenth in the Drivers’ Championship.
“It’s always annoying to miss the podium by such a slim margin,” said Lotterer. “Still, most of the time I was able to drive among the main group and I had to be careful that no one hit my car.
“My overtaking move at the end was pretty tight but it worked – it’s simply a shame that it was too late to go for the podium. The positive experiences of this season make us optimistic about the future.”
“I’m already looking forward to next year” – Pascal Wehrlein
Team-mate Wehrlein was also involved in the battle for the points on Sunday afternoon in Berlin, but the German was forced to settle for sixth after being unable to find a way ahead of Sims like Lotterer achieved.
Wehrlein felt he could have done better than sixth, but the positives for the former Manor F1 Team and Sauber F1 Team driver were that the team improved significantly across the second half of the season, which will hopefully bode well for season eight that begins in January.
“That was a good race,” said Wehrlein. “Our car had a decent pace and I could make up several positions. It was a strong result for the team, even though we could’ve probably done better today.
“It’s a shame that the season is over. We’ve made great progress recently and we’ve regularly finished in the points, especially during the second half of the season. I’m already looking forward to next year.”
Wehrlein ended the year just outside the top ten in the Drivers’ Championship on seventy-nine points, just twenty behind season champion Nyck de Vries.
