Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit

Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit
The layout used for the 2017 race onwards.
Location Berlin, Germany
Time zone CET
Coordinates 52°28′25″N 13°24′06″E / 52.47361°N 13.40167°E / 52.47361; 13.40167Coordinates: 52°28′25″N 13°24′06″E / 52.47361°N 13.40167°E / 52.47361; 13.40167
Major events Formula E 2015, 2017-
Length 2.250 km (1.398 mi)
Turns 10
Race lap record 1:09.519 (Maro Engel, Venturi, 2017)

Berlin Tempelhof Airport is home to the Formula E Berlin ePrix. It hosted its first race as round 8 of the 2014–15 Formula E season. After not holding a race in 2016, the venue was used again with an updated layout for the 2016–17 season[1].

History

Development

Part of the circuit with airport buildings in the background.

The 2.469 km anti-clockwise track features 17 turns and was designed by Rodrigo Nunes.[2] Venturi driver Nick Heidfeld described the circuit as follows: "It looks like it’s going to be a very twisty and challenging circuit with 17 turns in under 2.5km, and I think the fans are going to have great visibility wherever they are. Many corners are just followed by the next which also partly shows that overtaking will not be easy, on the other hand, with so many corners followed by each other it’s easier to mess up and make a small mistake and then maybe the driver behind can capitalise on this. The two longer straights will be best for overtaking and using the FanBoost. It will be crucial to get into a good rhythm to get plenty of laps in and to learn the track quickly. It will also be interesting to see how the circuit is built up as normally on a street circuit there is no run-off so and no room for mistakes but in Berlin it could be more open allowing a little more margin for error."[2] The course runs under the canopy roof of the historic Tempelhof Airport terminal from turn 13 to turn 14 and then again during turn 17.

2015 Berlin ePrix

The circuit first took place on 23 May 2015. It was initially won by Lucas di Grassi. However, a technical infringement discovered in post-race checks led to his disqualification, with the win being awarded to Dragon Racing driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio.

Temporary absence

Owing to the Tempelhof airport building's usage as a temporary refugee shelter, the Berlin ePrix was moved to the Berlin Street Circuit, a layout created specifically for Formula E along the Karl-Marx-Allee to the west of Alexanderplatz[3]. The 2016-17 season calendar listed Berlin as a host city, but did not specify which circuit was to be used. In January 2017, it was confirmed that the race would return to Tempelhof[1].

2017 Berlin ePrix

The circuit hosted the 2017 Berlin ePrix, which became a doubleheader round after the cancellation of the Brussels ePrix, which took place on the 10 and 11 June. The two races were won by Mahindra driver Felix Rosenqvist, his first in the series, and Renault-e.Dams driver Sébastien Buemi.

Track Records

The layout used for the inaugural event in 2015.

For race lap records set during the Berlin ePrix by circuit layout.

LayoutDriverDistanceTimeVehicle
2015 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 2.469km 1:24.435 Spark-Renault SRT_01E
2017- Germany Maro Engel 2.250km 1:09.519 Spark-Venturi VM200-FE-02

For qualifying lap records by circuit layout.

LayoutDriverDistanceTimeVehicle
2015 Italy Jarno Trulli 2.469km 1:21.547 Spark-Renault SRT_01E
2017- Sweden Felix Rosenqvist 2.250km 1:08.208 Spark-Mahindra M3ELECTRO

References

  1. 1 2 "Formula E's Berlin round returning to Tempelhof Airport". autosport.com. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  2. 1 2 "Berlin Circuit". fiaformulae.com. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
  3. ↑ "Formula E finds alternative to Berlin refugee shelter venue". bbc.co.uk. 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
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