Parc Femme continued their in-person coverage of the ABB Formula E World Championship at the Sun Minimeal Berlin E-Prix for Rounds 9 and 10.

With a double-header again on the cards this weekend, Formula E provided much entertainment over the two rounds with two different race winners, one unexpected and the other a redemption of sorts.

Parc Femme joined the media pen on Friday and post-race to hear from some of the drivers on their thoughts about the Berlin E-Prix.

Friday

Antonio Felix da Costa

Pedi – Just a couple of questions. What are your thoughts on the new track layout? Have you spent more time than previous years familiarising yourself with the track?

Antonio – We actually did not. It was a public holiday in Germany last week, so we only got 2 days in the sim. Which was lovely, we normally do a bit more than that, and I think we’re all prepared anyway. The track, obviously the same place but a different layout and still loads of opportunities to overtake, so I would say similar concept but again, different corners.

Pedi – We’ve now passed the halfway point in the season, how have your goals or visions changed compared to the start of the season?

Antonio – Well, yeah obviously. I feel like I’ve been through a massive rollercoaster this year, with a bad start and then bouncing back, winning a race and back in the championship fight and then a few hours later it was taken away from us. At the moment we’re appealing those points, and I have, I want to race assuming that I have them, which yeah it’s one scenario, at the moment without those points the championship is far away from us I would say. But if we do get those points back then we are kind of in the fight, so… yeah it’s a weird situation for me at the moment just thinking race by race.

Paul Aron

Pedi – With this beginning your first weekend racing with the team, how are you feeling and how are you finding it so far? What are you doing to prepare?

Paul – Yeah, adapting to the car, is difficult to answer so far, I’m going to jump in later this afternoon and then I will have a proper feel for the car, but uh yeah preparations have started since I ran in the car in Misano. You know I’ve done a lot of simulator work since then and I’ve spent a lot of time with the team just to get to know everyone, and basically all my plane flights I’ve been studying the steering wheel of the car and all the systems so I think I’ve never prepared for a race as much as here and uh so far the team has been super friendly and really welcoming so in that sense it’s been great to get to know everyone and um yeah they’ve really made sure I don’t feel any pressure and enjoy the weekend as much as possible.

Taylor Barnard:

Pedi: You had a great race in Monaco, how do you feel coming into this weekend with a new track layout?

Barnard: Yeah, so [I feel] a lot more confident than I was in Monaco. Obviously, I’ll be driving from the first session, which is more beneficial for me in terms of learning and still the goal is to learn as much as possible. I would like some points, but it depends on how fast we are really, to be realistic, but I would say I’m fairly confident.

Pedi: My other question was do you think points are a possibility this weekend?

Barnard: When you watch the way these races work, I think anybody starting from any position can get points, whether I’m a rookie, fastest car, slowest car, I don’t think it matters. It depends on how the race works, how many crashes, and safety cars, [so] you have to be very lucky but I don’t think [the race] is going to be perfect. I think the chaos of Misano, I saw with everyone changing positions so often, it proves it doesn’t matter, anyone could be anywhere at any point.

Pedi: What do you think of the actual track, after seeing the paved sections?

Barnard: It’s different that’s for sure. It’s something I need to pick up on and learn very quickly. All of these guys have driven here before. I know its a different layout but it’s still the surface that we’re driving that is the same. So in terms of the tyre warm-up and how you manage your race. It’s quite unique on any calendar,but I’m usually quite fast with adapting to things, so I’m not sure I’ll struggle but obviously that’s a topic I need to get on very quickly.

Pedi: Okay, Good Luck, Thank you.

Dan Ticktum:

Coco: So, what are your thoughts on the new track layout? And have you spent more time compared to previous years familiarising yourself with it? 

Ticktum: The layout itself I think is better, yeah. I thought the last two years I’ve been here it’s probably one of the worst tracks I’ve ever driven. So, I do think they’ve done a much better job on the layout. I think it is more enjoyable to drive. Traction zones are very long though, so that could hurt a little bit. But, honestly we’ll have to see. But yeah, I think it’s going to be better. 

Coco: We’ve now passed the halfway point, have your goals and visions changed compared to the start of the season? 

Ticktum: Not really, no. I think I’m looking forward to Gen 3.5. I think we’ve got some good improvements. I don’t know if it’s all there, but it’s looking more promising. So, I think now it’s just to try and capitalise on any chaotic races or score points.

Saturday: 

Jehan Daruvala

Chelle: Incredible qualifying for you to get into the duels, obviously having to start at the back due to penalties, also your race up until the contact obviously looked pretty good, does that give you a lot of confidence for tomorrow?

Daruvala: Yeah, I think, up until the last safety car, the race was going well, obviously we had to take a 10 second stop and go penalty, so it was always going to be difficult from there, but in the end I take the positives from today. We had a good qualifying, we had a good race up until some minor issues in the end, so tomorrow’s a new day and we have some good opportunities.

Chelle: Is there anything you’re taking from today that you’ve learned that you’re taking into tomorrow?

Daruvala: I would say, qualifying is going to be a bit more important tomorrow, because the race is 2 laps shorter, but still anything can happen. We look forward to tomorrow.

Lucas Di Grassi 

Chelle: You got spun out in Lap 22, is that what made you retire the car?

Di Grassi: That’s correct, the car was damaged, badly damaged and we had to stop.

Chelle: You had a good race pace I think, do you like that?

Di Grassi: Yeah, we had a good qualifying pace and then also a race pace, very interesting strategically but unfortunately we got take out.

Chelle: Tomorrow’s a different race, two laps shorter, do you take anything from today?

Di Grassi: Yeah, tomorrow is a shorter race, the dynamic changes a bit, but not massively, still going to be very similar to today, just a bit faster and of course we’re going to try to do the best we can to score points.

Stoffel Vandoorne

Coco: We saw the chaos in Misano, it seems to be back here in Berlin, what are your tactics in this type of situation?

Vandoorne: There are not many tactics, the tactic is to survive because it’s just so chaotic that keeping your car intact is already a priority. Today I was leading a little bit for a couple of laps in the beginning, and that probably hurt me a little bit with the energy consumption, it was very hard to stay there and to be efficient at the same time. At some point we lost a couple of places, I missed the attack mode and then had to go for it again, so that pushed me right back and its drastically changed the strategy of the race by saving me energy, so I was able to come back at the end, and we manage to do that, but its definitely a weird type of racing.

Coco: You had to give back your position to Pascal Wehrlein after overtaking under a full course yellow, did you realise too late or was it just miscommunication?

Vandoorne: No, I think it’s just the way of the race, you know like lifting so early, I knew there was a risk of a full course yellow, and kind of went for the move, but when you’re racing and a full course yellow gets called, you can’t slow down anymore, so it was just up to the stewards to look who was ahead at what point. I accept the decision, there’s no bad feeling about it, I was just trying to go for a move, I made it happen but obviously the full course yellow was already in place.

Oliver Rowland:

Pedi: We saw the chaos in Misano, it seems to be back here in Berlin, what are your tactics in this type of situation?

Rowland: To stand on the podium. No, I mean, it’s a bit too much, but at the same time it’s probably interesting for people watching on the sofa back home. People racing cars at 230 kph and making contact, its a bit too much, but I managed to stay third and I was aggressive when I needed to be.

Pedi: So how does it feel to stand on the podium?

Rowland: Pretty good, its always weird when you have a double header, because this part of my brain is already thinking about tomorrow, and how we can be better in qualifying. It’s always a relief when you cross the line and I didn’t expect it, so it was a nice surprise.

Pedi: Do you feel you hold yourself back a bit on Saturday for a double-header weekend? Reserve something for Sunday’s race?

Rowland: No, not really. Honestly, we as a team seem to improve over two days, which is sometimes a good thing, I mean if you get a result like today and you can be a bit better tomorrow. So we’ll just have to wait and see.