De Vries beats Mortara to Berlin E-Prix victory

Nyck de Vries took victory ahead of Edoardo Mortara at the second Berlin E-Prix after an audacious two-car overtake on the opening lap proved to be the deciding factor of the race.

With the reigning Formula E World Champion starting from third on the grid behind Mortara and Robin Frijns, de Vries jumped to the lead of the race with an opportunistic move at the first corner.

After an even getaway from the lights, the Mercedes driver capitalised on a gap barely bigger than the width of his car to pass both Mortara and Frijns on the inside to take an early lead of the race.

Andre Lotterer held on to fourth place after battling with Antonio Felix da Costa into Turn 1, but the Portuguese driver fell behind Lucas di Grassi on the opening lap as a result of the duel.

Frijns podium chances dashed, Venturi drivers 'go long'

The pace of de Vries in the opening 10 minutes of the race allowed him to take an early attack mode, with the Dutchman successfully re-joining the train of cars in third place. Just behind, di Grassi made the move for fourth place past Lotterer at Turn 1.

Frijns' attempts to replicate de Vries' strategy were dashed when the Envision driver marginally missed the Attack Mode zone. He dropped to fourth place behind Mortara, de Vries and di Grassi.

With both Venturi drivers opting to go further into the race before taking the mandatory Attack Mode, it became imperative for de Vries to retake the lead on-track to make the most of his power boost.

He did exactly that on the 33-minute mark by out-braking Mortara on the inside of Turn 5 and taking the lead of the race once more.

Slightly further back, Frijns was overtaken by da Costa and Lotterer, who were equipped with Attack Mode and moved up to fourth and fifth respectively.

Venturi charge, Vandoorne mounts podium challenge

Just as the Attack Mode phases were ending for most of the front runners, Mortara, di Grassi and Frijns activated theirs - dropping to positions five to seven - to begin their assault through the field.

Following his Attack Mode stint, championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne, who had started the race in seventh and was now running in fourth, began his charge forward, first passing Lotterer for third place on the inside of Turn 1.

The Attack Mode trio of Mortara, di Grassi and Frijns all progressed into the top four prior to their boost running out, passing Lotterer, Vandoorne and da Costa.

In the battle for the lead, Mortara reduced the gap to de Vries to around one-and-a-half seconds with around 20 minutes of the race remaining.

After his Attack mode recovery, Frijns' hopes of reclaiming a podium position began to falter as he fell behind da Costa, who was FanBoost-assisted, Vandoorne, and Mahindra's Oliver Rowland.

Vandoorne then continued his charge with a pass on da Costa on the inside of Turn 1 with around 14 minutes of the race to run. The Belgian was up to fourth place.

Just behind, Rowland's flurry of pace continued with a move on da Costa for fifth, overtaking around the outside under braking for Turn 6.

The final duel for the podium place

With de Vries able to stretch out his lead over Mortara, attentions turned to di Grassi versus Vandoorne for the final podium spot.

With both drivers looking set for a battle to the flag, the Mercedes man pulled off a surprise, late-braking manoeuvre into Turn 5. Seemingly catching di Grassi unawares, the Venturi driver made a late effort to close the door.

Di Grassi left just enough room for the pass to be completed, but minor contact was made as Vandoorne elbowed his way past to successfully take third place.

Slightly further back, Rowland's late-race performance was falling away, and the Briton dropped back behind da Costa and Frijns, who began competing for fifth place on the final lap.

With both drivers jockeying for position on the run towards Turn 6, a tag on the rear of da Costa's car sent the Techeetah towards the barriers. Quick reactions from the Portuguese driver kept the car out of the wall, but he lost the place to his opponent.

Back at the front, de Vries remained unchallenged as he took the victory - his second of the season - to provide his championship defence with a shot in the arm. Mortara completed a productive weekend with second place, ahead of Vandoorne.

Di Grassi took fourth ahead of Frijns, da Costa and Rowland. Lotterer finished the race in eighth, with Jean-Eric Vergne and Mitch Evans completing relatively lonely races in ninth and 10th.

The win takes de Vries to sixth in the Drivers' Championship, 46 points behind teammate Vandoorne.