In a stunning display of skill and strategy, Maximilian Günther of DS Penske clinched a dramatic victory in the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix on Friday. The German driver timed his attack to perfection, overtaking race leader Oliver Rowland in the final moments of the 31-lap contest.
Reflecting on his triumph, Günther said, “This means everything to me. It’s the first win with my new team, DS Penske. It was a lot of hard work, a big race but an amazing outcome for us. We lost quite a few places around the pit stop window, but we just stayed calm and did our race. I didn’t expect to come back all the way. I thought a podium would have been good, but to do it in the end and to win it is an extra special feeling. I didn’t want to leave it until the last corner but there was no other option – Oli was doing a mega job today, a great race. I believed until the end!”
For most of the race, it seemed that Rowland, the Mexico City winner, was on course for another victory. He overtook defending champion Pascal Wehrlein early on and then seized the lead from Günther. Rowland maintained his advantage through the mid-race Pit Boost sequence, an innovation making its debut in the all-electric single-seater series.
Despite the setback, Günther refused to give up. With two Attack Modes remaining, he strategically deployed them to carve through the field, eventually catching up to Rowland. In a thrilling final lap, Günther made his move, sweeping past Rowland to secure DS Penske’s first win in over two years.
Rowland, who finished second, said, “We had a plan before the race and we executed it pretty well. I’m a little bit disappointed because when I had such a gap, if I’d under consumed a bit I’d have had enough energy to defend from Max [GUENTHER]. He caught me napping a little bit and I couldn’t do much in the last corner. Nevertheless we scored some great points and on to tomorrow.”
Rounding out the podium was NEOM McLaren Formula E Team’s Taylor Barnard, the youngest driver in the field. “Starting from P4 a podium was always my hope, but you never know how the race is going to play out. It was the first PIT BOOST race as well, so to know that we’ve done the procedure that well as a team, I couldn’t be happier to be P3,” Barnard commented.
The Jeddah E-Prix also saw strong performances from Maserati MSG Racing drivers Jake Hughes and Stoffel Vandoorne, who finished fifth and tenth, respectively. Hughes noted, “That’s race one done here in Jeddah and overall it was a good day. P7 in qualy P5 in the race so all in all a strong performance. It was a very stressful race, I can laugh about it now but at the time there was a lot to manage.”
As Formula E’s Middle Eastern action continues with round four on Saturday, fans can expect more thrilling battles and unexpected twists in this exciting new era of electric racing.
