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The Silver Arrows continued their domination of motorsport as the Mercedes-EQ Formula E team took the constructors’ and drivers’ world championship in the electric racing domain, writes Naman Arora.
Nyck De Vries took home the drivers’ championship, despite finishing eighth in the season-closer in Berlin, by a razor-thin eight-point margin ahead of Edoardo Mortara.
“I’m lost for words; I mean, it’s been such a tough season with highs and lows, and in the end, it came down to the last race, and I am just so pleased that it was enough for me to win the title,” De Vries said after the race.
“I’m starting to get a little emotional now. We drove an incredible race, had very good pace and I’m very happy for the team that we not only won the drivers’ World Championship but also the teams’ title.
“Towards the end, I felt like I had a target on my back. I was being attacked from left, right, front and rear, so when I knew it would be enough for the championship, I brought it home. What a race!”
With this win, Mercedes has also nabbed its first all-electric World Championship, adding to a rich history of motorsport excellence, despite a mixed-bag of a season, much like its Formula 1 counterpart.
“We’ve added to over 125 years of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport heritage by winning not only the drivers’ but also the teams’ World Championship in Formula E,” explained Ian James, the team chief.
Meanwhile, De Vries’ team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne led the race in the early stages but lost several positions to an attack from behind.
In a thrilling final charge, he overtook several drivers with his second attack mode to finish the race in P3.
“I lacked a bit of pace after the start, and we weren’t as fast as we needed to be before everyone went for attack mode,” he noted, after the race.
“That’s why I found myself in a difficult situation after the safety car deployment. I had a tough fight against some opponents out there, and I’m relieved that I still managed to finish on the podium.”
In a strange twist, a few hours before the final race, Motorsport.com reported that the team was exiting Formula E at the end of this season.
The 2022 Formula E season will kick off on January 28, 2022 in Saudi Arabia.
