Abt Schaeffler celebrated a double podium finish in Berlin, despite the drivers not obeying team orders at the end of the race which would have seen the positions reversed.
Daniel Abt finished in second place, ahead of his Championship leader teammate Lucas di Grassi. Abt had been part of the leading group from the start of the race which included himself, Buemi, and Vergne. Di Grassi held back and tried a different strategy than those around him, staying out for an extra lap in his first car before pitting.
The Brazilian got ahead of Prost in the other Renault e.dams car, and set his sights on his teammate. He wasn’t ever quite close enough to make a move, although the team told Abt over the radio that di Grassi was faster than him.
“I made it clear in the team strategy meeting I did not want team orders,” Di Grassi said to Autosport after the race. “We agreed not to fight each other, so the quicker one let the other by, but the last two laps I was not quicker.”
Abt also tweeted the reasons he didn’t let his teammate ahead:
Twitter: To say something about the team order discussion. I was slowing down with 2 laps to go and indicating Lucas to pass me which he didn’t.. (@Daniel_Abt)
Twitter: Last lap was too risky as Prost was close and I could have lost the podium. I’m 100% behind Lucas and the team, trust me! (@Daniel_Abt)
It means that the gap between Buemi and di Grassi in the Drivers’ Championship has been reduced to just one point, ahead of the final weekend in London.
