Da Costa's dominance
Antonio Felix da Costa has so far been untouchable in Berlin. He and DS Techeetah are without doubt the combination that has best hit the ground running amid unprecedented circumstances, with the Portuguese driver sitting 68 points to the good in the Drivers' Championship with 120 left to play for.
This was clear for all to see right from group qualifying ahead of Round 6 on Wednesday, where he set a blistering time in Super Pole, some three tenths-of-a-second faster than anybody else.
WATCH: Don't miss a minute of Rounds 8 and 9 this weekend from Berlin
He followed up with a peerless victory in the race - completing a first maximum 30-point haul in Formula E; including the group qualifying benchmark, the Julius Baer Pole Position, a lights-to-flag victory and the fastest lap of the race. Energy management, tyre management and outright pace all looked to be so well sorted, right out of the blocks.
Those around him in the Drivers' standings were left hoping that complete performance was a fluke on the first day back in the office but da Costa and DS repeated the feat on Thursday, storming to another imperious race win and leading every lap on the way from pole to the chequered flag.
The 28-year-old is making it look easy in a series so renowned for its unpredictability, but he insists it's more a combination of factors falling his way than outright pace that is yielding the results.
“When you have a good car and a confident driver put together, it shows itself. I’ve had days with no confidence and when you haven’t got it it’s very difficult," he said.
"I'm not four-tenths quicker than any of these guys, I'm just on the other side now where things are working well and coming naturally. We need to understand why this is so we can keep repeating it.
"I'm just enjoying myself and having so much fun. I want to say thanks to everyone involved with this incredible team for putting all of this together. We have all worked so hard in the last weeks and months.
"What we have done now, winning three times in a row and twice from pole to finish, you can only dream about."
Ominously after Wednesday's qualifying session, he hinted that the team and his engineer had a little more left in the tank. This bodes well for da Costa should the field bunch up yet again on Saturday and Sunday as it did between Rounds 6 and 7, where the top 15 drivers qualified within 0.5 seconds.
“We’re very happy at the moment," he said. We considered changing a few things and we have a few ideas in our pocket. We’ve made small changes and we’ve got some bigger setup changes if we need it but I decided not to do anything drastic."
Frustration in French
Reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne is yet to unlock the DS Techeetah in the same way his team-mate so spectacularly has thus far in Berlin.
In the opening race, Vergne lined up just behind da Costa and initially held station, about two seconds back. As the clip above highlights, however, he grew increasingly frustrated as time passed at his team-mate's purported unwillingness to follow the 'beeps' - the indicators that aid the drivers with ideal coast and regen timings - and the team's pre-race strategy.
JEV admitted defeat as his energy ran low, and fell out of the running after contact saw him spinning down to 20th. "I cannot fight," he said, earlier exclaiming to DS over team radio that he would remember what had happened going forward.
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Vergne’s exasperation was clear for all to hear in Round 7, too, with complaints in his native tongue that he was losing his rear tyres ringing around the ears of race engineer Pascal Tortosa with just under ten minutes to run.
The Frenchman’s pace, as in the first running of the Reverse Berlin Tempelhof Circuit, fell away towards the end of the race, with Edo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) pinching eighth and Andre Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche) ninth - Vergne eventually falling to 10th.
He's made the podium twice on the conventional Tempelhof layout, and he'll certainly be hoping to reach the rostrum again this weekend after a disappointing double-header on the reverse configuration, with his bid to retain the Drivers' title looking like a distant dream.
Vandoorne's race pace
Mercedes-Benz EQ's Stoffel Vandoorne catapulted himself into joint-second in the Drivers' standings behind da Costa and alongside Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler's Lucas di Grassi, with sixth and fifth-placed finishes in Rounds 6 and 7, respectively.
The Belgian pulled a comeback drive out of the bag in the Tempelhof opener after an error in qualifying saw him miss out on Super Pole with a lap that ended up some three tenths-of-a-second slower than he had expected.
HIGHLIGHTS: Catch up with all the action from Round 6
Vandoorne scythed his way through the field methodically in both encounters, winding up sixth having started 15th - a nine-place gain over the course of Round 6. It was a similar story on Thursday as he took the chequered flag fifth, up from 13th.
"The hard work we put in paid off," he said, thanking the team for their efforts. "Now we just have to make the most of qualifying as we have some great pace in the car in race trim.
"I felt comfortable and very confident - it was just a good comeback. The podium even looked possible at one point but we didn't take any crazy risks."
Mercedes' pace is there, as Nyck de Vries has also shown with his cusp-of-the-podium battles in both encounters. The Stuttgart manufacturer will be hoping they can level up with silverware this weekend.
BMW blighted
The BMW i Andretti Motorsport pairing of Max Guenther and Alex Sims headed to Germany – home soil for the Bavarian marque and driver Max Guenther – in an enviable position. Sims was third in the Drivers’ running with team-mate Guenther fourth, with both eyeing a title charge.
On Friday, however, the team was left licking its wounds. Guenther and Sims managed 13th and 17th, respectively, in an ultra-competitive qualifying session ahead of Round 6. Though the latter recovered well to earn points, Guenther was disqualified for exceeding the amount of usable energy in his iFE.20.
Round 6 didn’t provide much solace, either. Sims’ battery had to be replaced prior to the E-Prix, which meant he had to start from the pit-lane and take a drive-through penalty on the way to 19th.
HIGHLIGHTS: Get up to speed with all the best of the action from Round 7
Guenther had been the big climber off the line, making a trio of moves to find his way into eighth by the end of the opening lap, but he picked up damage and a puncture which forced him into an early bath.
The 23-year-old showed flashes of ultimate pace, and both cars were there-or-thereabouts in practice but he was left asking why the team were unable to maintain their pace in qualifying
No excuses were made by the Team Principal Roger Griffiths, who said: “We must use the time between now and the next race to analyse closely what we can do better.”
If anyone can correct the course, it’s BMW. What will provide a boost is that it still holds second position in the Teams’ standings heading into the next Tempelhof double-header, and its car is twice a race winner this season in the hands of each of its drivers. The margins, though, are this week proving to be finer than ever.
Audi's podium return
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler has historically enjoyed its visits to Berlin and the Tempelhof Airport Circuit, with two race wins - including one last season - and now seven trips to the podium in total in the German capital since Formula E's inaugural 2014/15 campaign.
Di Grassi sliced through the field after qualifying a disappointing 21st ahead of Round 6 - eventually winding up eighth. Round 7 brought about that seventh podium for the team on home turf, with the Brazilian utilising all of his experience to fend off a queue of cars eyeing third spot.
The wily 35-year-old placed his e-tron FE06 in all the right places to hold station and get his hands on silverware and the Moet & Chandon champagne.
On debut for Audi in Formula E, Rene Rast also impressed with a points finish and tenth in Round 6.
Di Grassi's deficit to standings leader Antonio Felix da Costa (DS Techeetah) is a significant one, at 68 points, but his consistency and propensity for a late-season charge in Formula E means the Portuguese will be looking over his shoulder to the end.
When the pressure’s on, Lucas tends to come into his own, and with the switch to the Traditional Berlin Tempelhof Circuit this weekend, he'll be front of the queue of those trying to topple da Costa.
Known quantity
We are back in familiar territory this weekend for double-header two of three as we run the Traditional Berlin Tempelhof Circuit, August 8/9.
We had made four visits prior to this campaign and the iconic old airfield has been a favourite among drivers and fans alike in each of its appearances on the calendar.
Will we see the order shaken up once again as our 12 teams and 24 drivers head to a configuration that they're more au fait with?