How Mortara stopped a long drought to revive the Formula E title challenge

Continued two consecutive retirements, both resulting in contact damage Edward Mortar with a lead in the Formula E championship. After arriving at the abandoned Tempelhof airport, the apron of the wide terminals has now been converted into a race track, Mortara was fifth overall and 32 points behind the championship leader Stoffel Vandorn – for the last two races the Belgian has scored 35 points.

In Rome, Mortar was unceremoniously pushed against a wall Antonio Felix da Costawho broke the suspension on it Venturi chariot, a disease that became final after slipping into the barrier of exit 3 turns. Three weeks later in Monaco Martari’s rise on the field was stopped by a teammate Lucas di Grassiwho gave the Swiss a puncture, which also proved final.

None of the incidents blamed Mortar, but he highlighted the problems caused by indifferent qualifying performances. Unable to fight in any of the races, Mortara worked on himself, trying to break through the pack. Although the pursuit of cunning victories may be a more stylish way to act, it combines inherent risks – especially in the “contact sport” of Formula E. Martar was twice bitten, once shy.

For Mortar the best way to end his skinny and bring back the championship challenge was to qualify for the front. In the new qualification format finding a place in the top four in the first group stage is a very tangible goal that gives an automatic pass to the elimination fights. Mortara had to get into this zone of progression in Berlin just to avoid getting into the midfield herd.

That was the pace Mercedes power transmission in Berlin, however, that Mortara could do a little better than just engage in a duel. Instead, he managed what he failed to get in 54 previous attempts in Formula E: pole position.

Taking third place in his group, Mortara tuned in to close combat Andre Lotherer, who continued his constant presence in the knockout part of the qualification. They were separated by a paltry 0.008 seconds, but Mortara won a draw against Costa in the semifinals. This scrap was also almost as close; to Costa held a slight advantage in the starting sector, but Martara overturned the Portuguese driver and crossed the line with less than a tenth to prove his place in the final against Alexander Sims.

Sims was lucky to go to a duel. Despite the fact that he and his teammate, feeling that he can hurry after Mahindra worked hard, trying to make up for the difficult start of the 2021-2022 season Oliver Rowland had trouble getting everything out of the M7Electro machine. Then, when Sebastian Buemi faced a strike of his fastest double during the lap, Sims returned to the ring.

He performed something like a cup upset by sending a Group A topper Pascal Verlainemoving to the face Jean-Eric Verne in the semifinals. There the two recorded the same lap time, both crossed the line with 1 min 06,050 s. But as Sims put his first, it was over – Verne regretted “the dumbest rule I’ve seen in my life” when he was forced to watch the finale from the garage. Sims fought hard in the final, but Pole was in Mortar for 0.137 seconds.

Decisively retaining the lead off the line, Mortara had the will to dictate the pace in the early stages of the first race. His plan was to create enough buffer to ensure that activating the first attack mode was as painless as possible, waiting for it until the 20th round before capturing the 250 kW power mode – a time when others were already picking up their second activation.

Verne was preparing to move to Mortar at turn 6, but the attempt to attack was read perfectly; Mortara maneuvers Vergne to go deep into the corner, DS Tegipard The driver blocks and wastes time

He lost only one position to Lotterer, who was in second place at the time, when Porsche showed a strong pace on Saturday, but Mortara soon regained the advantage and continued to enjoy his extra dose of power. Lotterer was still in second place, but when the race entered the second half, the German veteran came under increasing pressure from Vandorn – who recovered after dropping to 12th place at the start – and Verne, who sought retribution after how he felt offended in qualifying.

Mortara saved his second lot in four minutes of attack on the 31st lap, this time giving way to both Lotterer and Vandorn. When Lotherer was at the end of the attack mode, and Vandorn was pulling the last of the delays, making his way to the lap later than the Porsche driver, the leader was vulnerable. Vandorn made a move towards Lotterer at turn 6, which was also attacked by Mortara before the Mercedes driver was tracked down on the next lap – Mortara returned to the lead in the same corner.

Mortara decisively kept the lead at the start of the first race and began to tear the field behind him

Photo by Andrew Ferrara / Drawings of motorsport

This coincided with Verne’s late accusation. He bypassed his friend and former teammate by Techeetah Lothera on the 33rd lap, seconds after Mortara cleared Vandorn. On the next lap Verne drove past Mercedes, bringing out the championship leader with a rare pass by Fanboost. This set up a duel between Mortar and Verne, which ended in the penultimate round.

Verne was preparing to move to Mortar at turn 6, but the attempt to attack was read perfectly; Mortara maneuvered Verna and went deep into the corner, the DS Techeetah driver blocked and lost time. This gave Mortar enough buffer to just bring his car to an end, getting his second win in 2022.

“The race was very long and very intense,” Mortara admitted. “I’ve been under attack and pressure from the guys behind me all the time. I’ve led the group for most of the race and we know that in Formula E it’s far from ideal because you’re essentially wasting more energy you can’t put a little energy aside to fight with others. That meant we had to race without mistakes. And today we did a great job. “

Remember that statistic about Mortar’s polar drought? His wait for a second was much shorter as he finished Sunday’s qualifying with another start for first place. You are waiting for a friend…

Encouraged by Saturday’s performance, Mortara was in formidable on Sunday morning. He led his group, rejoined the fight and cleaned up Nick Cassidy aside in the quarterfinals when Kiwi performed for the first time since Diria. Nick de Vries was next on his list and the Dutchman was beaten by almost four tenths of a second when Martara stamped his loyalty card and moved on to the final match against Robin Freins.

In the first race, Franes felt all the effort, but a few tweaks gave him the feeling of driving, which he lacked on Saturday. But despite this, the lock in the first turn meant that the Envision driver sent three-tenths to Mortara in the starting sector, never recovering, as the final break was almost half a second before the end of the lap.

Mortara again nailed the qualification for the second race to capture another pole

Photo: Sam Bagnal / Drawings of motorsport

Mortara just had to repeat the first race, hoping to break through. What he didn’t expect was that de Vries would break into the first corner from the inside – and de Vries admitted that he didn’t plan to either. When the track was inverted for the second race, the first corner became the last Saturday pin, making it easier for the first turn compared to the 270-degree opening in the previous day’s layout.

When Mortara took care to cover Freins in the first corner, the door inside was a little ajar. De Vries needed no further invitation, placing his Mercedes in the smallest gaps and coming out of turn 1 in the lead.

On Saturday, de Vries struggled with “split brakes” when the temperature of the brakes on one side of the car was significantly different from the other. This meant he was losing a couple of tenths per lap, stopping his progress and leaving him to settle for 10th. Changing the brakes during the night eased the problem, and having a clear track ahead, de Fries could head out at sunset.

On the 13th lap to Costa took second place, as Mortara continued to wait until his rivals step up in the final stage. He blinked on the 15th lap, dropped to fifth place, but soon passed Lotterer, Vandorn and to Costa on a row of wheels

Mortara tried to repeat his strategy of racing one, continuing the race before switching to attack mode. This time, drivers will receive one long eight-minute activation that requires a different strategy. De Vries, having built a decent lead, picked up his attack mode on the ninth from the 40th lap. Thus, Mortara returned to the lead, but de Vries selected Venturi after two rounds and again began to restore his advantage.

Meanwhile, Ko Costa moved into third place after the detonation of da Grace and Freins – the latter of whom missed the last cycle of attack mode on the first try – and followed Mortar with his extra 30 kW of power in hand. On the 13th lap to Costa took second place, as Mortara continued to wait until his rivals step up in the final stage. He blinked on the 15th lap, dropping to fifth place, but soon passed Lotterer, Vandorn and to the Costa on consecutive wheels.

De Friese slipped past Marthari on the first turn of the second race to win the race

Photo: Sam Blockham / Drawings of motorsport

But even if the attack mode had about three minutes left, Mortara could not eliminate de Fries’s deficit the way he wanted. De Vries was the best in the championship, carefully using his energy and keeping the temperature of the battery and tires under control. At half-distance his advantage was 2.6 seconds. In the end, it was 2.5 seconds as de Vries did not allow Mortar to ever compete in the late race.

“[The first corner move] caught me a little by surprise, “de Fries explained.” I had a good start, a little better than Robin. And obviously wasn’t too far from Ed. This opportunity came as a surprise, but I took it.

“Today our pace was very strong, but it definitely helped to drive and run our own race. Today we didn’t have to fight, we had a clean race, kept the tires and energy under control.”

De Friese’s victory was the main result of the suffocation with the Mercedes drive in the second race; Vandorn and di Grassi fought for third place, a fight that Vandorn, while maintaining his incredible consistency, won 1-2-3-4. Indeed, Vandorn increased his championship advantage over the Berlin double-goal from six points to 12, which is why Verne dropped out of second place in the standings after a muted transition to ninth place in the second race.

Now Mortara, scoring a grand 50 points in the German capital, is in second place out of 99, hoping that his heroic actions in Berlin could mark the beginning of the Edo period of Formula E.

Marthari’s choice over the weekend repulses him from the lead by 12 points, trailing Vandorn by 32 points before the event

Photo: Sam Blockham / Drawings of motorsport