The New Zealander started in 17th place and climbed into the top six by the end of the first round of ATTACK MODE activations with energy in hand on those around him.
His initial six-minute attack with 50 kW all-wheel drive saw him reach the front on lap 27 and take control from there, creating a two-second gap to those behind.
RESULTS: Eighth round of the Hankook Berlin E-Prix 2026
He crushed the advances of two world champions, Rowland and Wehrlein, during the second round of ATTACK MODE as the race reached its climax to seal the deal and his 16th Formula E victory, more than any other driver in the series’ history.
Rowland completed second place – a double podium in Berlin after the reigning champion’s third place yesterday. He now has more titles than any other driver so far this season. Wehrlein failed to score yesterday after a puncture prematurely ended his chances, but today, third, he regains his lead in the standings at home.
That completed a good weekend for Porsche and the ‘Pink Pig’ liveried cars, following Nico Mueller’s victory in round seven, ensuring the Stuttgart firm continues to lead the way in the team and manufacturer tables leaving home.
We travel to Monaco in two weeks for rounds 9 and 10 of the campaign.
How it happened…
Wehrlein and Barnard led the group into Turn 1 and both swapped positions mid-lap in what was to be a truly tactical encounter with strategy at the fore.
With 20 cars fighting for the same square of Tempelhof’s concrete apron and the same track position, contact seemed inevitable and came at the hairpin with Buemi jamming the Mahindras into Cassidy’s Citroën, leaving De Vries out and Cassidy down the order.
On lap 7, Envision pair Eriksson and Buemi led the way, with Mortara, Vergne, Drugovich, Barnard, Wehrlein, Mueller, da Costa and Guenther in the top 10. Cassidy was then caught in contact again, clipping Buemi’s Envision, forcing Cassidy to make a pit stop to replace the Citroen front wing.
On lap 12, Rowland pulled the pin and pushed, setting the fastest lap of the race having accumulated three or four percentage points of usable energy over the rest of the field. The Brit climbed from the back of the pack to sixth place and seemed to be pushing hard towards the front.
Maloney was the first to jump out for his initial of two mandatory 50 kW all-wheel drive ATTACK MODE boosts, moving the Lola Yamaha ABT rider into the top six. Vergne followed up a lap later with an early activation, moving into the top six on lap 17 as well.
Rowland made his way to the front of the field and began to gain a gap on Buemi in P2: the Nissan had a three percent advantage in remaining energy.
Nato then took ATTACK to move into P1 on lap 21, with a similar energy advantage in the group as Rowland, and using it to take a two-second lead. Both he and Rowland had climbed 15 places since the beginning.
Rowland then responded with ATTACK on lap 22, dropping the Nissan driver to the bottom of the top 10 as the pace of the field began to quicken, some six seconds per lap faster than the first third of the race.
At the end of his activation, Rowland was second behind Nato, and only Mitch Evans in the Jaguar seemed to be better positioned with the remaining energy – the Kiwi was in third place just behind Nato and Rowland. One lap later, in lap 27, Evans took the lead with energy in hand. It seemed like he had timed things perfectly with an initial six-minute ATTACK MODE push to take P1.
With six laps remaining, Evans began trying to create a gap with Rowland behind: 1.6 seconds. Vergne followed in third with Nato, Wehrlein, Buemi, da Costa, Mueller, Barnard and Ticktum completing the top 10.
The second activation of ATTACK MODE saw Evans flash last with now a two second gap in first place. On lap 32, Evans jumped out, with Wehrlein now in front but with a minute less of ATTACK MODE to play. Rowland, however, in fourth place, had a minute more of that 50 kW all-wheel drive boost even over Evans, as well as a percentage of available power.
Mitch made the move to take the lead in the final turn of lap 32, and it looked like Rowland would follow him for Wehrlein’s Porsche, and he did so at the start/finish a lap later, albeit apparently under Yellow Flag conditions.
After a Full Course Yellow to recover the debris that was thrown by that Yellow Flag, two laps of the race were left with the drivers immobilized. Evans was able to hold his own and keep Rowland at bay, while Wehrlein sealed another local podium for Porsche on home soil.
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