The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship returned for Round 3 and 4 at the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix this weekend, with Round 3 also seeing the debut of PIT BOOST mandatory pit stops, allowing the drivers an energy boost for strategic advantage.
Round 3 provided once again a thrilling race which went down to the line, secured when Maximilian Guenther claimed victory with a dramatic last-corner overtake on Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, marking his first win for DS Penske.
The German driver who lined up on pole for the first time since Jakarta 2023 had initially stormed to the lead of the race but found himself down the order as competitors took advantage of Formula E’s debut PIT BOOST mandatory pit stops. The pit stops saw Rowland, Taylor Barnard, and Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries gain an edge by using their extra energy early, whilst Guenther decided to opt for a different strategy, saving his boost for later on in the race. The 30-second PIT BOOST sees the cars given a super fast 10% charge, which is delivered at a mind-blowing speed of 600kw, a speed electric car chargers can only hope eventually makes its way onto the open market.
Lap 27 is when Guenther really started to mount his charge to the front, moving up the grid into second place whilst setting the fastest lap and gaining an extra point for his efforts there. Holding a slight energy advantage, he made his move late, tucked in behind Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, in what turned into a thrilling final lap four-car battle that went right down to the chequered flag, with Guenther making that move at the final chicane, taking his first win for DS Penske and his first since Tokyo last season, also making it the first time in 17 races that a polesitter converted their start into a win.
Maximilian Guenther, No.7, DS PENSKE, 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!”
Neom McLaren’s Taylor Barnard secured 3rd place in what was his second podium in three races for the team to complete the podium before the teams and drivers quickly switched their attention to Round 4 and the second of this double header which would take place without the PIT BOOST and after qualifying saw Barnard securing pole position whilst also becoming the youngest Formula E pole sitter in the meantime.
Taylor Barnard, No.5, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, said:
“Coming into this weekend I didn’t expect a podium, so to leave here with massive points for the team, I couldn’t be happier. I think I struggled a little bit for the first five laps – but two podiums, I’m so happy. Sometimes you have to be extra aggressive, but we also had to keep the podium and secure P2, and we did that.”
Round 4 started with Barnard heading into the lead but it soon became clear the young British driver would have to shift his focus to defence with the charge of former Neom McLaren driver Jake Hughes now with Maserati MSG Racing making his way through the pack. Oliver Rowland managed to capitalise on this and move to the front and a smart attack mode strategy helped Rowland build a commanding lead in the race and also extend his lead in the Drivers’ World Championship to 68 points due to the early collision between title contenders António Félix da Costa and Maximilian Guenther, which removed key rivals from the equation.
The race once again helped cement its reputation for action and overtakes as Nick Cassidy fought his way from 17th to finish fifth. Former champion Jake Dennis was also making moves, having started 19th, he made a dramatic move up to the lead before falling back to 4th, which was eventually won by the commanding Oliver Rowland (Nissan Formula E Team), with Barnard adding to his tally of podiums with second place, and Jake Hughes finishing off the podium spots with 3rd. This also meant that with Jake Dennis climbing to 4th position, history was once again made with it being the first time British drivers occupied the top four positions in Formula E history.
After the double header, it now means that before Formula E heads to Miami for Round 5 on Saturday, 12th April, Oliver Rowland now leads the Drivers’ World Championship with 68 points, ahead of Barnard on 51, whilst Nissan also holds a narrow lead in the Teams’ World Championship standings, with just five points separating the top four squads.
Oliver Rowland, No.22, Nissan Formula E Team, said:
“It was great – the key was at the beginning obviously. It was pretty much the perfect scenario. I had a little bit of contact with Guenther at the chicane, he got really aggressive on the inside and I got stuck on him. That’s the point when I went to the front – being third or fourth people start to get aggressive so I got out of trouble and went to the front and led from there. I’m just trying to focus race by race, try and do the best job we can and score points.”
The action though wasn’t just on track this weekend as Formula E had as much off-track action as on-track with a series of events and partnerships once again in the spotlight.
- FIA Girls on Track hosted 120 girls for their first event in Jeddah, promoting empowerment and education, with participants attending workshops, gaming, listening to career talks, and experiencing a Pit Lane Walk.
- As part of the series’ community engagement and social sustainability strategy, Formula E supported the First Autism Centre – an organisation dedicated to supporting individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) via its Better Futures Fund. Its €25,000 donation will directly be used to establish a dedicated sensory room for the 100 children supported by the centre.
We also saw the stars out in force with British boxing star Chris Eubank Jr. getting a thrilling taste of the 2024 Jeddah Corniche Circuit as FIA Safety Car driver Bruno Correia took him on an electrifying lap in the official FIA Formula E Safety Car. The boxer also enjoyed an exclusive garage tour with DS Penske, where he got up close with the cutting-edge all-electric GEN3 Evo car. Eubank Jr. also had the prestigious honour of waving the chequered flag for the second and final race of the weekend in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Entertainment also saw Grammy Award-winning rapper, singer, and songwriter Lil Baby who brought the star power to the event, cheering on the teams from the exclusive Formula E VIP hospitality area, the EMOTION CLUB, before headlining Round 4 of the ABB FIA World Championship alongside Kuwaiti singing group Miami. Senegalese-American singer-songwriter Akon, who headlined Round 3 the night before, was also in attendance.
On track we also saw Reigning F1 Academy Champion, Abbi Pulling, who also previously competed in the W Series championship and participated in the inaugural FIA Formula E All-Women’s Test in Madrid in November, take to the track for an electrifying demonstration drive in a GEN3 Evo Formula E car for the first time at this circuit and we also saw first Rookie Free Practice of Season 11 happen on Thursday, 13 February, ahead of Rounds 3 and 4.
Miami will also see the debut of EVO SESSIONS where Over the next six weeks – ahead of the track event at the Miami International Autodrome (Hard Rock Stadium) on 5-6 March 2025 – a carefully curated collective of 11 of the world’s most-followed and popular personalities, comprising actors, athletes and content creators with a combined reach of over 300 million, will be paired and embedded within Formula E’s elite race teams and drivers as part of their preparations.
The Lineup which this week saw British actor Tom Felton, Australian automotive creator and entrepreneur, Supercar Blondie, Mexico’s leading automotive content creator and motorsports enthusiast JUCA, and British pro driver and creator Driver61 join Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, Sergio Agüero, Emelia Hartford, Cleo Abram, Lucien Laviscount and Vinnie Hacker will see all participants receive an intense training programme that includes simulator sessions, physical conditioning, driver coaching, hardware customisation and engineering briefings. They will experience first-hand just how tough and complicated it is to prepare, train and drive like a world-class racing driver.
In the two-day event they will have prepared for, they will experience the breathtaking performance of the all-new GEN3 Evo race car on the track, capable of 0-60mph/100 kph in just 1.82s – 30% faster than a current F1 car – as well as take part in a number of familiarisation laps to accustom themselves to the altered track layout.
The entire journey from rookie-to-racer will be captured for social-first content, through the creators’ lens, and shared across their and Formula E’s social media channels. The whole experience will offer fans a rare and exclusive behind-the-scenes, access-all-areas viewpoint into the world of Formula E, not from the perspective of the grandstands, but directly behind the wheel. It will showcase what it truly takes to compete at the pinnacle of electric racing, with a feature-length documentary coming later in 2025
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