A special anti-clockwise track was built for the race next to the terminal building of the closed airport, including 17 turns over a distance of 2.469 km (1.534 mi).

[8] Coming into the race from Monaco two weeks earlier, Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT) was leading the championship with 93 points, four ahead of his compatriot Nelson Piquet Jr. (NEXTEV TCR).

[11][12] It was described as a "twisty and challenging circuit" by Formula E driver Nick Heidfeld (Venturi), who also stated that "overtaking will not be easy" due to the nature of the course.

[13] Between qualifying and the race, a new world record was set for the largest parade of electric vehicles, when 577 cars and scooters took to the track.

As qualifying progressed, championship leader Lucas di Grassi and Monaco winner Sébastien Buemi came close to beating Trulli's time, but proved unable to do so, handing Trulli a surprising[19] pole position, his first in Formula E.[20] A special feature of Formula E was the "Fan Boost" feature, an additional 30 kilowatts (40 hp) of power to use for five seconds during the race.

[18] For the Berlin race, Nelson Piquet Jr., Sébastien Buemi and Charles Pic (NEXTEV TCR) were handed the extra power.

Nelson Piquet Jr. immediately made up for ground lost in qualifying, gaining three positions during the first lap, running in tenth place.

While di Grassi built an early lead, several manoeuvres were made behind him, with Nicolas Prost (e.dams-Renault) losing two positions to Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Dragon Racing) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (Trulli GP), dropping back to seventh.

Pole sitter Jarno Trulli looked to be in trouble with his car and lost positions continuously, running in thirteenth after lap twelve.

[19] Once his car returned to parc fermé, it failed post-race scrutineering, and was found to have a modified front wing, leading to his disqualification.

[19] While e.dams Renault retained their lead in the teams' championship, the strong result for the Dragon Racing squad meant they moved up into second.

[22] The Abt team decided not to appeal the decision against Di Grassi, while emphasizing that the front wing did not lead to a performance advantage.