Dual podiums in Berlin

Berlin’s former airport, Tempelhof, came alive over the weekend, but not with the sound of aircraft, but the cheering of fans at the Berlin round of the 2017 FIA Formula E season. In fact, the weekend saw two full race days, each complete with their own qualifying sessions and race, giving race fans a tremendous spectacle and Audi driver, Lucas di Grassi not one, but two podium finishes for the weekend. 

Indeed the Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport driver also managed to set the fastest lap in qualifying for the Saturday race, and was on track to take the first race win until an issue with his battery’s temperature at the midpoint forced him to slip back into second place. Teammate, Daniel Abt, finished sixth after starting eighth on the grid. 

On the Sunday, starting from well back in seventh, di Grassi again turned on the speed to battle through the field and ultimately claim another podium finish and a haul of 36 points for the weekend – reducing the gap in the driver’s championship with leader Sébastien Buemi, now just 32 points away.

With Daniel Abt starting just one place behind di Grassi on the grid, a fourth position finish for the German netted him 20 points for the round for a total of 56 points scored by ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport – inching closer to manufacturer leaders, Renault. 

“It was a fantastic weekend. I took 36 points, two podiums and one pole position – all this at the home race for ABT, Audi Sport and Schaeffler in front of a fantastic backdrop,” said di Grassi. “The whole event in Berlin was fantastically well organised and the new track layout was perfect.

Renault and especially Mahindra were a little faster, with this in mind we extracted the maximum from our opportunities,” he said.

The series continues in New York on July 15–16, where race goers will again be treated to a ‘double race’ weekend, this time on a track built specially in the harbour quarter of Brooklyn. With plenty of points on offer, the opportunity will be there for Lucas di Grassi, Daniel Abt and ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport in what is shaping up to be a nail-biting second half of the season.