Neither Maximilian Günther nor Alexander Sims scored points in the final two races in the six-race ABB Formula E season finale at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. As a result, BMW i Andretti Motorsport finished the season fifth in team points, Günther finished ninth in drivers’ points, and Sims finished thirteenth in drivers’ points. The championships had been decided in race four; António Félix da Costa driving for DS Techeetah won the drivers’ title and DS Techeetah won the team championship.
As noted here earlier, BMW i Andretti had gone into the final two races with a chance to finish third in points for the eleven-race season, but it was not to be. In race ten on Wednesday, Günther was hit on lap one; radiator damage led to a long stop, and the car was retired from the race. Sims started fourteenth on the grid, and moved up to eleventh, just out of the points, at the end. The race win went to Nissan E.Dam’s Oliver Rowland.
Günther turned the fastest lap in practice on Thursday, but had to qualify in the first group. As has often happened over the course of the season, times improve along with track conditions in later groups. As a result he started eighteenth, while Sims started fifteenth. Günther moved up, and was running eighth when he lost positions as he was forced to the outside in a duel with Robin Frijns. He finished twelfth, and Sims finished thirteenth. Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne won the race ahead of his teammate Nyck De Vries.
BMW motorsport director Jens Marquardt said, “The six races in nine days in Berlin were the incredible conclusion of a just as incredible Formula E season. Congratulations to António Félix da Costa and the DS Techeetah Team on their deserved title win. When we got off to a fantastic start in Season 6 with a win and two pole positions for Alexander Sims in Diriyah in November 2019, we had no idea of the global consequences that would come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re happy that we were able to finish the season on the racetrack, even though regrettably it was without our fans. BMW i Andretti Motorsport ended the season with three wins, a second-place and fifth-place in the team standings. It’s a shame that it wasn’t enough for a better result, despite the good job from the team. As already mentioned, Alexander Sims had a successful start to the season, which he was unfortunately unable to build on, particularly in the races in Berlin. Maximilian Günther had a very good rookie year in our team. His wins in Santiago and Berlin were real highlights. Ultimately, what we were lacking to make us one of the main contenders in the title race down to the wire was consistency. We weren’t able to activate our performance from the start of the season often enough in Berlin. We will work on this intensively looking ahead to Season 7 and hopefully improve further in the coming year.”—Brian Morgan
[Photos courtesy BMW Motorsport.]
