René Rast will be racing in Berlin for the ninth time in his career and for Season 9, he takes to the circuit as a NEOM McLaren driver.
He was in a reflective mood ahead of the race, sharing why he believe that the old format of qualifying suited him whenever he replaced Daniel Abt for the six-race season finale in Berlin to conclude the 2019-20 season:
“I don’t think that it’s my driving or anything that is suiting the circuit, it was just the circumstances back in the day which allowed me to have that success.
“It was a very different qualifying format and obviously I was not part of the championship and so I was last in the championship always in the fourth group.
“I was starting at the front in the race, which then allowed me to also have one good result. So it’s not necessarily the track, but I’ve done many races here, eight in total, so it’s the track which I know the best.”
With the Berlin e-Prix being a doubleheader, it means that the teams have to keep the second race on Sunday in mind as they take to the track for the opening race on Saturday. However, Rast doesn’t believe that there is much difference in approaching a weekend with two races, rather than one:
“A doubleheader is not a lot different compared to a single header. Obviously for the team, for everybody, it’s a bit more work and the sleep will probably be less.
“In terms of preparation, we are doing the same as for a single header so there isn’t too much difference. Obviously, you need to rest a bit more between day one and day two. So maybe a bit earlier to bed on Saturday evening just to be ready again for Sunday.”
As Berlin is the first track on which Rast scored a Formula E podium, he will be hoping to add another this time around. Although he is unsure where his car’s performance will be this weekend:
“We don’t know, we will see in a couple of hours. We thought that Sao Paulo was a track for us because some competitors said that we are very good in brake efficiency and braking, but somehow Sao Paulo was not our track.