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The 2021 Berlin E-Prix was more than just a season finale for Formula E, and with two World Championship titles up for grabs, it was a chance to secure a permanent place in history.
For Norman Nato, the weekend proved to be a landmark moment in his career and after missing out on two podiums earlier this year, his deserved redemption finally came to pass.
But just how did Norman’s conquest of Berlin come about?
We’ve delved deep into our data to answer that question and create a data-driven, insight-fuelled, lap-by-lap guide as to how we secured our third Formula E victory in Berlin.
Qualifying – From Group 4, Norman progresses to Super Pole for the fifth time this season, completing a 1:06.806-second lap at Tempelhof. A connector issue in the pole position shootout prevents the Frenchman from completing a lap, leaving him a grid starting spot of P6.
Lap 1 – From the third row, Norman secures a clean getaway and immediately moves up to P4, passing Mitch Evans and diving around the outside of Tom Blomqvist into Turn 1. A collision involving Evans and Edo causes the race to be red-flagged immediately.
Lap 2 – Following a lengthy stoppage period, the final race of the season is resumed behind the Safety Car.
Lap 3 – No sooner than the race is resumed, a Full Course Yellow is shown after BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Jake Dennis crashes out of the race in Turn 1, retiring from P8.
Lap 5 – With Dennis’ stricken BMW removed from the circuit, the 45-minute + 1 lap affair is resumed once more.
Lap 6 – Running in P4, Norman completes a 1:10.114s lap to set the fastest lap of the race so far. This allows him to close in on P3 runner Alexander Sims by 0.293s.
Lap 7 – Continuing to push, Norman beats his previous fastest lap of the race so far by 0.095s to raise the bar and set a new benchmark time. The gap to Sims is sliced by a further 0.308s, with the pair now separated by only 0.643s
Lap 8 – Norman rolls the strategy dice and activates his first of two uses of Attack Mode, obtaining a 35kW boost in power for four minutes, with his eyes set on the podium fight.
Lap 9 – After eyeing up the Mahindra driver since the start of the race, Norman overtakes Sims to move into the podium places as the Briton activates Attack Mode. Now in P3, Norman sets another new fastest lap to beat his previous personal best by 1.380s. The lap has an average speed of 123.5km/h and is 1.685s faster than leader Stoffel Vandoorne.
Lap 10 – Norman continues his ascent by overtaking Oliver Rowland for P2, with the Nissan e.dams driver taking his first use of Attack Mode.
Lap 11 – Showcasing supreme pace, Norman overtakes Vandoorne into Turn 1 to take the lead in the final race of Season 7.
Lap 19 – Norman activates Attack Mode for one final time without losing track position – a crucial masterstroke in the race strategy.
Lap 22 – Norman extends his lead to the largest it has been all race, holding a 4.646s advantage over the next closest car in Rowland.
Lap 23 – The Safety Car is deployed after Antonio Felix da Costa is fed into the wall on the exit of Turn 2. The Season 6 champion is forced to retire from the E-Prix.
Lap 24 – The season finale is resumed, and with a better getaway, Rowland gets the jump on Norman to close in on the lead, with the gap standing at only 0.138s.
Lap 25 – Norman fends off Rowland’s attack and re-establishes his earlier advantage by building a 0.508s buffer.
Lap 27 – Norman extends his lead over Rowland to 1.104s as Audi’s Rene Rast sets the fastest lap of the race, beating Norman’s run from Lap 9.
Lap 36 – Norman takes the chequered flag to secure his maiden victory in Formula E, beating Rowland by 2.270s. The 29-year-old becomes ROKiT Venturi Racing’s only rookie winner and most successful debutant on record. Bagging 25 points, Norman also scores the team’s 500th point and becomes its third most successful driver to date.
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