Cassidy climbs to Berlin race victory; Formula E champion crowned!
- Vyas Ponnuri
- Jul 13
- 6 min read
Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Nick Cassidy made it a Jaguar double in Berlin, following on teammate Mitch Evans' victory on Saturday to climb up the order from 21st on the grid to win the Berlin E-Prix. Meanwhile, the championship battle was put to bed even before the Berlin weekend came to an end.
Cassidy, who had qualified only second last on the grid, made it a second Jaguar win from the back row of the grid in 2025. Conserving his energy early in the race, the New Zealander made hay late in the race, as those ahead ran low on energy and dropped towards the rear of the pack.
Fellow podium sitters Jake Dennis and DS Penske's Jean-Éric Vergne too climbed up from 16th and 18th respectively, to finish second and third. Meanwhile, Oliver Rowland finally sealed the title, finishing fourth, and creating a 59-point gap to Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein, with one double header to go for the season's conclusion.
Cassidy's teammate, and Round 13 winner Mitch Evans cycled up to fifth, ahead of McLaren's Taylor Barnard, while super sub Felipe Drugovich scored points in seventh for Mahindra.
Dennis' teammate Nico Müller recovered from a mid-race puncture to finish eighth, ahead of Porsche's António Félix da Costa, while Rowland's stand-in teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara took home the final point in tenth.
A chaotic race that witnessed a multitude of race leaders, swapping around as drivers conserving energy early came across those pushing hard early, here's how it all unfolded.
AS IT UNFOLDED
Pascal Wehrlein's championship hopes took a massive boost, with the German securing pole for his home race, and the three points to come with it. In contrast, championship leader Oliver Rowland secured only third in qualifying, with a further five-place grid drop for his incident in Round 13 dropping him down a total of ten places, with the Briton starting down in eighth.
Wehrlein did extremely well off the five red lights, fending off the attack from Cupra Kiro's Dan Ticktum, who started on the front row. Elsewhere, the biggest gainer in the top ten was McLaren's Taylor Barnard, moving up four positions from his starting slot in seventh. A double overtake into the triple-apex left handers moved the Briton up into a lofty third, as solidified a long shot aspirations of winning the title.
While Barnard would lose both positions two laps later, Ticktum's teammate David Beckmann was the first to take attack mode. Taking four minutes of his allocated eight, Beckmann utilised the extra power at his disposal to move up all the way up into the race lead, marking what was a Cupra Kiro 1-2 at that point.
In a race which would reward efficiency and management of energy, drivers weren't keen to hold the lead, as was the case when Wehrlein ceded his position to Ticktum. The German, despite being happier to run in the slipstream of the race leader and conserve energy, then lost position to teammate da Costa.
Rowland, itching to seal the title in Berlin itself, made a bold double overtake in the triple-apex left handers, moving up to fifth on the start/finish straight, passing Andretti's Nico Müller and Beckmann.
15 laps in, and Beckmann remained the only driver to take attack mode. Drivers looked to be keen to use the attack mode later in the race, when they would finish saving enough energy, and can push until the end of the race.
Barnard began to up the ante, putting in a double overtake to move up to second. Heading on to lap 19, a late dive on da Costa and Wehrlein saw the McLaren man become the fourth different leader of the race.
The likes of Edoardo Mortara and Sette Câmara became the next drivers to take their first hit of attack mode. However, their charge up the order would be halted, with the safety car called out for the stranded Envision Racing of Sébastien Buemi, on the exit of the turn 2 hairpin.
More than halfway into the race, Vergne ran eighth, with more energy left than the lead runners around him. Jaguar's Nick Cassidy, sitting in 14th, had the most energy in the field, as the safety car came into the pits at the end of lap 21.
Race leader Barnard wasted no time in taking attack mode on lap 22, swiftly retaking the two Porsche cars for the race lead. As the Briton attempted to move away from the field, pushing on, his charge would be scuppered by yet another safety car, this time his teammate Sam Bird involved.
Bird would make contact with Müller heading into the turn 2 hairpin. While the Andretti man suffered a left rear puncture, going off track, he would rejoin in the path of the slowed McLaren. The safety car cost Barnard his attack mode, as it ran out before the safety car returned to the pits. Müller, meanwhile, would find reverse gear to stay in the race, albeit in last place.
The safety car came into the pits at the end of lap 25, facilitating racing action once again. Several drivers jumped in for their dose of attack mode, including both Wehrlein and Rowland. The likes of Robin Frijns and Mitch Evans too went for their attack modes, now squabbling for the lead.
With Wehrlein running out of attack mode sooner than the rest, the Porsche man would drop down like a stone, losing positions at almost every corner, as he slid down to 13th on the road. The likes of Lola Yamaha ABT's Lucas di Grassi and Zane Maloney had found their way into the points, while Rowland had briefly made his way into the race lead.
Taking his second attack mode, the Nissan man had dropped down to ninth, as he had to swiftly make his way up the order.
The likes of Cassidy and Andretti's Jake Dennis, conserving energy early in the race, had made their way up into the top three, while super sub Felipe Drugovich had pulled his Mahindra into the top four, as the race continued to throw up a topsy-turvy order onto lap 36.
Three added laps would allow several drivers to finish their attack mode. Cassidy became the newest race leader, while Dennis moved up into second, passing both Rowland and Drugovich as he shored up his ambitions to win the race.
Cassidy had opened up a two-second gap in the race lead, with others behind stuck and unable to utilise their attack mode to the best effect. The likes of Barnard and Evans, who had cycled towards the rear of the order, began to use their extra power to move up into the top six. As the race veered towards its final tour, a full course yellow was quickly called, for a slowing Frijns.
With a swift return to green flag running, Cassidy solidified his position, taking a comfortable race victory ahead of Dennis and Vergne, the trio moving up from well outside the top ten to finish on the podium.
But the talk of the town would arguably be behind them. With Wehrlein's final attack mode charge proving toothless, Rowland, sitting in fourth, had done enough to win the Formula E world championship for the first time. Holding a 59-point lead at the end of the race, he would head into his home event as the champion, with only 58 up for grabs at the season finale in London.
A manic race, that saw action left, right and centre, and here's the final classification:
Final Classification: Berlin E-Prix (Round 14)
Nick Cassidy (Jaguar)
Jake Dennis (Andretti)
Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Penske)
Oliver Rowland (Nissan) - Formula E Season 11 Champion
Mitch Evans (Jaguar)
Taylor Barnard (McLaren)
Felipe Drugovich (Mahindra Racing)
Nico Müller (Andretti)
António Félix da Costa (Porsche)
Sérgio Sette Câmara (Nissan)
Jake Hughes (Maserati)
Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing)
Lucas di Grassi (Lola Yamaha ABT)
Stoffel Vandoorne (Maserati)
Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro)
Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)
David Beckmann (Cupra Kiro)
Zane Maloney (Lola Yamaha ABT)
Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) - DNF
Maximilian Günther (DS Penske) - DNF
Sam Bird (McLaren) - DNF
Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing) - DNF
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