Looking at the results Pepe Martí brought into the first race of the Berlin E-Prix, pessimism might have been justified. He finished second-to-last in Free Practice 1, 17th in FP2, and 15th in qualifying. But as he has shown during his short time in Formula E, Martí tends to improve as the weekend progresses, and that was the case again. He showed patience to use his Pit Boost effectively, moving up the order to finish seventh while Nico Müller claimed victory for Porsche. The Swiss driver celebrated the win, but the result also saw Pascal Wehrlein lose the championship lead to Edoardo Mortara.
The Swiss driver defended his third pole of the season with Mahindra at the start as Oliver Rowland slipped behind him, passing Wehrlein. Martí gained two positions initially, but by the end of the first lap he was back in 15th. If the Spaniard wanted to score points, patience was required—nothing new for him in the electric world championship.
He stayed around those positions during the first third of the race, which saw several leaders, including a surprise from the Lola Yamaha team. First, Zane Maloney took the lead, then Lucas di Grassi—starting from the last row—made his way to the front, creating a memorable sight: the two yellow cars, arguably the slowest on the grid, leading the pack at Tempelhof. It was a special moment unlikely to be repeated. A peloton-style rhythm formed before the Pit Boost window opened, with Cassidy, Rowland, and Mortara regaining the initiative just before lap 20 (of 39), when some drivers headed to the pitlane.
Martí was 13th just before that point. When he decided to pit, he was among the last to do so five laps later, alongside Rowland and Evans, and he rejoined in sixth position. The reigning champion (Evans) came out in first place, the same position he was in. So patience had paid off for those who waited, and with a dozen laps remaining, it was time to attack. Everything seemed possible—except for drivers like Ticktum and Wehrlein, who started ahead but finished behind with issues.
With six minutes of usable Attack Mode available for a single activation, Martí used his from eighth position with nine laps to go, at the same time as most of his rivals. It wasn’t ideal, but his fifth top-10 finish was within reach, and he sealed it with a seventh-place result, earning him 10th in the championship standings.
Up front, Müller was the first to attack and built a four-second advantage, managing it perfectly to secure his first Formula E win in the pink Porsche, ahead of Cassidy and Rowland. Mortara missed the podium but took the championship lead. Tomorrow (16:00, RTVE Play and Eurosport 2), the second race in Berlin begins.
