Mueller finally breaks through with dominant win in opening Berlin E-Prix

Nico Mueller scored his first Formula E win at his 69th attempt with a dominant display in the first race of the Berlin E-Prix.

Amid the backdrop of Porsche Motorsport’s 75th anniversary celebrations, and driving a car adorned with the legendary "Pink Pig" livery made famous by the brand at Le Mans, Mueller was among the first of the lead group to take Attack Mode – a single use for this race rather than two owing to the inclusion of Pit Boost fast-charging pit stops – on lap 28 of 39, and had the lead a lap later.

From then on he dropped the hammer, holding a 1.956s lead by the end of lap 29. He pulled out around half a second on the lap after that and continued to pull away uncontested, eventually crossing the line 4.798s ahead of Citroen’s Nick Cassidy.

The "Pink Pig" served Mueller well in Berlin. Joe Portlock/Getty Images

For Cassidy it was a characteristic measured drive, managing his energy in the pack. He took his Attack Mode a lap after Mueller and immediately moved up to second, but with Mueller disappearing into the distance and Nissan’s Oliver Rowland mounting a stiff challenge behind him, a push for the win was out of the question.

Rowland took his Attack Mode on lap 30, a lap after Cassidy and two after Mueller and while chasing Cassidy for second, he also had to resist Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara who – after leading early on from pole – was still in the hunt for a podium finish.

Mortara hounded Rowland until the final lap, easing the pressure on Cassidy in second, but Rowland held firm to take his fourth podium finish of the season. In fact, whenever he has finished in the points this season, it's been on the podium.

Jake Dennis finished fifth for Andretti but could have been in the podium conversation was it not for leaving his Attack Mode attempts late. When he finally did manage to take it on lap 32, he wasted no time in recovering, but the damage had been done and he had to settle with a finish off the rostrum.

Mitch Evans finished sixth for Jaguar TCS Racing after a quite but measured performance from 14th on the grid. He finished ahead of Cupra Kiro’s Pepe Marti, DS Penske’s Taylor Barnard and Mahindra driver Nyck de Vries, with Antonio Felix da Costa taking the final point for Jaguar after struggling with battery derating in the hot conditions towards the end of the race.

Before the Pit Boost cycle, the Lola Yamaha Abts of Zane Maloney and Lucas di Grassi enjoyed a spell at the front of the field, but with their package’s efficiency not on par with the rest of the field, they eventually fell to 15th and 17th respectively.

Second-placed starter Pascal Wehrlein had a race to forget, sustaining a puncture on lap 19, eliminating him from contention for the win. He eventually finished 19th in his Porsche, the last of the drivers to cross the line after Kiro’s Dan Ticktum retired with technical issues.

With his pole and fourth-place finish and Wehrlein's non-score, Mortara has taken the championship lead, four points ahead of Wehrlein. Mueller’s win vaults him from sixth to third in the standings, ahead of Evans and Cassidy, while da Costa – the only two-time winner so far this season – slips from fourth to sixth.

Porsche still leads the teams’ standings, its lead over Jaguar TCS Racing growing from four points to 20. Its lead in the manufacturers’ standings over Jaguar also increases from three points to 28.

The second half of the Berlin doubleheader starts at 10:05am ET Sunday.

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