While the Drivers’ Championship battle wrapped up at the Berlin E-Prix earlier this month, the fight for the Teams’ Championship rages on.
Porsche and Nissan both have their eyes on the prize, with the German manufacturer 37 points ahead of its championship rival. Pascal Wehrlein’s P3 finish at Saturday’s race has put Porsche in a strong position going into the Season 11 finale — as well as improving his chances of a P2 finish in the Drivers’ Championship.
Wehrlein isn’t particularly interested in the runner-up prize. “The Drivers’ Championship is gone. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter if, in the end, I finish second, third, or fourth,” Wehrlein told press after the race.
“What’s important to us is the Teams’ and the Manufacturers’ Championship. And today we’ve made a big step towards those.”
Wehrlein’s teammate, Antonio Felix da Costa, wasn’t quite so lucky. A tough qualifying for the Portuguese driver saw him start from P17 on the grid, and culminated in a marginally improved P14 finish.
But similar to Wehrlein, da Costa’s sights are firmly set on Sunday’s race, knowing there’s still all to play for.
“Tomorrow, that’s our main goal,” said Da Costa. “For us to have one solid day of racing with both cars, it’s looking good. Pascal [Wehrlein]’s result today was a huge help. We’re trying to bring home those two [championships] home for the team.”
Nissan’s Oliver Rowland finished P11, just outside of the points. “I need to go away tonight and try to do some work and be better tomorrow,” said the newly-crowned World Champion.
Neither Nissan had the pace under it, Rowland qualifying in P12 and Norman Nato in P16. Rowland pointed to a lack of grip as the culprit behind the team’s lacklustre pace. “I think all the Nissan cars were struggling a little bit,” said Rowland. “We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Image courtesy of Simon Galloway/LAT Images for Formula E
