Formula E's German round in Berlin quickly established itself as a fan favourite, partly because of its unusual setting inside the decommissioned Tempelhof Airport. The vast former airfield offered circuit designers a unique canvas, with long sweeping corners laid out on original aged concrete — a surface that produces low grip and high tyre wear, making tyre and energy management a central strategic consideration that other Formula E circuits rarely replicate.
The first Berlin ePrix in 2015 used a 2.469 km, 17-turn layout mapped across the Tempelhof apron. When the airport was repurposed to house refugees in 2016, Formula E lost access and the race relocated to a city-centre street circuit for that year. Racing returned to Tempelhof from 2017 onward on a revised 2.250 km, 10-turn configuration that retained the concrete surface but simplified the layout. The circuit's indoor tunnel section became one of the most photographed features in the championship.
For the 2016 edition, Formula E created a temporary street circuit in downtown East Berlin centred on Strausberger Platz. The 1.927 km, 11-turn track ran along Karl-Marx-Allee, with pit facilities installed on the broad boulevard. Although the layout received positive reviews, the return of Tempelhof in 2017 meant the street circuit was used only once.
The Berlin ePrix of 2020 became one of the most unusual events in motorsport history. When the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the 2019–20 Formula E season between February and June, the series ultimately staged a compressed finale of six races across three consecutive weekends, all at Tempelhof. To add variety, each doubleheader weekend used a different circuit layout: the standard configuration, a reversed mirror-image layout running the track in the opposite direction, and a hybrid variant that altered the section around turns 5 and 6. The reversed layout in particular caught many teams off-guard and produced unpredictable qualifying results, as driver instinct built up over previous Tempelhof events became less relevant when the circuit was flipped.
The low-grip Tempelhof concrete distinguishes the Berlin ePrix from street circuits that dominate the Formula E calendar. Energy consumption patterns differ from conventional tarmac surfaces, and the surface tends to reward a smooth driving style that minimises wheelspin. The indoor tunnel section introduces a brief change in light and temperature that drivers must account for. The combination of these factors makes setup compromise particularly acute and has historically produced a spread of competitive performances across different manufacturers.
The Berlin ePrix has repeatedly delivered memorable championship moments. Its position as a near-permanent fixture on the Formula E calendar — interrupted only by the 2016 refugee-housing relocation — reflects both the logistical appeal of Tempelhof's large footprint and the German capital's commitment to supporting zero-emission motorsport. The 2020 pandemic triple-header gave the event an additional place in Formula E folklore as the season-ending sequence that determined that year's championship.
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