Formula E: Simracing title to Mercedes 🎥

On Saturday evening, Pascal Wehrlein and Mahindra Racing seemed to have the title in the ABB Formula E "Race at Home Challenge" within reach. On the virtual E-Prix track of Brooklyn/New York City, the German, who lives in Landschlacht, celebrated a commanding start-finish victory from pole position ahead of Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams) and Kelvin van der Linde (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler).

Stupid prank with harsh consequences
The South African, who finished third straight away, took the place of Christian Abt, who was sacked by Audi. Because the man from the Allgäu region had let a simracer do the steering work in the simulator two weeks earlier, he fell out of favor. Now Abt will also have to leave his real cockpit in the factory team managed by his father Hans-Jürgen Abt to another driver in the future.

Four drivers with title chances
With his third victory in a row, the former Sauber F1 driver moved past the previous leader in the drivers' standings, Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-Benz EQ), who had to settle for fourth place and the extra point for the fastest race lap in the virtual US race. Before the final race, Wehrlein's lead over pursuer Vandoorne was twelve points.

As the points from Sunday's race counted double, two more drivers were mathematically in contention for the title in the shape of two-time season-opening winner Maximilian Günther (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) and Rowland.

Turbulent start phase
The decision in the ABB Formula E "Race at Home Challenge" in support of the children's charity Unicef was made on Sunday on the virtual track in Berlin-Tempelhof - and early in the race. The two rivals Wehrlein and Vandoorne started in second and third place directly behind each other. In the first corner, the Swiss by choice was hit from behind, fell far behind and ultimately had to settle for 9th place.

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Turbulence after the start. The highlights from the final race show how Wehrlein let the title slip through his fingers.

Triumph of regularity
Vandoorne, on the other hand, defended second place in commanding fashion right to the end. The former McLaren GP driver thus won the drivers' championship ahead of Wehrlein, Rowland and Günther.

The virtual race in Berlin put the finishing touches to an exciting series. The championship lead changed several times over the course of the eight weeks. Five out of eight races were won by German drivers, Rowland won twice and Vandoorne only once, but thanks to his regularity in all races he triumphed in the end.

For Stoffel Vandoorne, this is the most special championship title he has won gamely and without taking any real risks.

Best result for Sébastien Buemi
With 4th place in the final race and fifth in the championship, Edoardo Mortara from Geneva was the best-placed of the four Swiss. Sébastien Buemi was unlucky early on Saturday after his best qualifying session and retired first. On Sunday, the simracing rookie achieved his best result in fifth place.

Neel Jani did not score any further points, finishing 11th and 23rd (bad luck at the start). Fourth place was the best result for him. Nico Müller did not compete on the final race weekend as he had already left for the DTM tests at the Nürburgring.

Money for Unicef
More than 100,000 euros were raised as part of the ABB Formula E "Race at Home Challenge" in support of Unicef. Formula E is thus making a contribution to the global fight against the coronavirus.

The goal of the contest was to raise funds for Unicef to ensure that children around the world stay or become healthy, live in safety, and maintain their educational opportunities during the Corona Crisis.

Re-launch in August
According to various sources, the real FIA ABB Formula E Championship is to be continued in August. Then with several races on different track variants at Berlin's Tempelhof airport site. The time for playing around will then be over.

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