Nissan and Mercedes join the party just in time
The final two races of the Formula E season were more than just a couple of post-credit scenes serving to extend the film’s running time. Antonio Felix da Costa had already, and rather comfortably, wrapped up the championship. His DS Techeetah squad had been crowned successive teams’ title winners. It wasn’t down to the wire as many had expected or hoped; it wasn’t all to play for.
But one last double-header on the extended Tempelhof Airport circuit to conclude a gruelling nine-day Berlin finale did act as a soft preview for the 2020-21 campaign. Mercedes and Nissan e.dams offered a glimmer that if anyone can take the fight to the black-and-gold cars and make them sweat next year, then those two operations head into the off-season in the best place to do so.
A maiden series victory apiece for Oliver Rowland and Stoffel Vandoorne, who led a Merc 1-2 on home soil, might just provide enough momentum for both to quell the DS Techeetah dominance and bring the oft-heralded “unpredictability” back to FE.
Five of the six races in the German capital were won by the polesitter in fashions best described as “controlled”, “consummate” or “dominant”. Rowland was no exception, having benefited from a qualifying farce, which meant the four
