De Vries: 'I hate losing - it eats me. To come back in Berlin was very important'

Reigning champion Nyck de Vries pulled a dominant drive out of the bag on home soil for Mercedes-EQ in the Shell Recharge Berlin E-Prix Round 8 to bite back from a run of two points from four races in the best way possible.

Reigning champion de Vries powered to a consummate win at the scene of his Season 7 title triumph, with Edo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) following 2.5 seconds back. The decisive move came at Turn 1 on the opening lap with the Dutchman flinging his Silver Arrow 02 up the inside of Julius Baer Polesitter Mortara and second-placed Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) to take the pair in one swoop and the lead, where he held fast until the chequered flag.

WATCH: Catch up with highlights of the Shell Recharge Berlin E-Prix Round 8

That trip to the podium, and the relative ease at which the Dutchman was able to control things from the front, were the perfect response to a tough four-round run. Either way, de Vries had said pre-weekend that he was positive about the first half of the season overall, despite recent form - keenly aware of how quickly things change in Formula E.

"We've had a bit of a difficult ride through the past four races and struggled to execute a result. I don't think on each occasion there was much wrong but there was just something little missing," said an emotional de Vries, moments before taking to the top step of the podium at Tempelhof.

With that win under his belt, reigning champion de Vries' title defence received a much-needed boost. He had been grappling with a dry spell tthrough the last four rounds with a two-point haul while his teammate, and standings leader, racked up some 68 points in the same spell. Now sixth in the standings with 65 points, de Vries' campaign looks to be right back on-track. There's work to be done, but there's still half-a-season to come.

"Everything was there but it just didn't work out. It just starts to build up," added de Vries. "People score points and you begin to lose momentum. To come back and turn it around now was very important. I hate losing - it eats me, especially when you know there's nothing wrong.

"I don't think it's the right time to think about points. Things change around so quickly. We've just got to keep our heads down and make sure the coin falls our way."

Now past the halfway mark in the season, the next stop on the Formula E calendar is Jakarta, Indonesia on June 4. With Mercedes-EQ out in front in the Teams' standings with 176 points and Vandoorne leading the Drivers' running, de Vries will be looking to build from here.

"It's very good to get a good result in but we definitely have to try and keep the momentum from now on," he added.

Published on 17th May 2022

3 min read