Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit

The Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit is a street circuit located at the former Berlin Tempelhof Airport in Germany. It 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]

Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit
The layout used for the 2017 race onwards.
LocationBerlin, Germany
Time zoneCET
Coordinates52°28′25″N 13°24′06″E
Major eventsFormula E (2015, 2017–present)
Length2.375 km (1.475 mi)
Turns10
Race lap record1:09.357 (Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, 2019)

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.

2020 Berlin ePrix

After the 2019-20 season was temporarily suspended and several rounds were cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,[4] the FIA announced that the season would conclude in early August with three double-header events in Tempelhof, using a different configuration of the circuit for each event. The first two races were held on August 5 and 6, 2020, on a reverse configuration of the track.[5] The next two races took place on August 8 and 9, with the normal circuit being used. The third and final double header was held on August 12 and 13, on an extended version of the track featuring several more turns.

Track Layouts

Track Records

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

LayoutDriverDistanceTimeVehicle
2015 Nelson Piquet Jr 2.469 km 1:24.435 Spark-Renault SRT 01E
2017 Maro Engel 2.250 km 1:09.519 Spark-Venturi VM200-FE-02
2018 - 2019 Lucas di Grassi 2.375 km 1:09.375 Spark-Audi e-Tron FE05
2020 (races 1–2) Stoffel Vandoorne 2.335 km 1:08.635 Spark-Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01
2020 (races 3–4) Mitch Evans 2.335 km 1:08.350 Spark-Jaguar I-Type 4
2020 (races 5–6) Lucas di Grassi 2.505 km 1:17.232 Spark-Audi e-Tron FE06

For qualifying lap records by circuit layout.

LayoutDriverDistanceTimeVehicle
2015 Jarno Trulli 2.469 km 1:21.547 Spark-Renault SRT 01E
2017 Felix Rosenqvist 2.277 km 1:08.208 Spark-Mahindra M3ELECTRO
2018 - 2019 Sébastien Buemi 2.375 km 1:07.295 Spark-Nissan IM01
2020 (races 1–2) António Félix da Costa 2.335 km 1:06.442 Spark-DS E-TENSE FE20
2020 (races 3–4) Jean-Éric Vergne 2.335 km 1:06.107 Spark-DS E-TENSE FE20
2020 (races 5–6) Stoffel Vandoorne 2.505 km 1:15.468 Spark-Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01

References

  1. "Formula E's Berlin round returning to Tempelhof Airport". autosport.com. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  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.
  4. "Formula E and FIA take decision to temporarily suspend season". FIA Formula E. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  5. "FIA Formula E returns to racing with six races in a row in Berlin". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
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