Jeddah – Race 1: Günther first winner of the “Pit Boost” era

• Maximilian Günther believed until the end and his tenacity paid off! The German won the first Jeddah E-Prix of the weekend, taking advantage of the collisions behind him and especially the "Pit Boost", the big new feature of this race and this Season 11 in Formula E. The poleman was nevertheless jostled by Oliver Rowland and lost precious seconds during his pit stop. Demoted to 7th place after his "Pit Boost", the DS Penske driver managed to come back up to the heels of the Nissan driver... before overtaking him in the last chicane on the last lap of the race! This is DS Penske's first victory since Jean-Éric Vergne, during the Hyderabad E-Prix in 2023.

LAST CORNER DIVE FOR THE WIN 🤩 😱

What race debut we have had in Jeddah! #JeddahEPrix pic.twitter.com/lrnOafmOVK

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 14, 2025

• A month after his victory in Mexico, Oliver Rowland thought he had secured his second consecutive victory… before giving up in the final hectometres. However, the Briton had done everything right: starting on the second row, the Nissan driver took control a third of the way through the race, a few laps before the first pit stops to comply with the “Pit Boost”, a quick recharge of around thirty seconds to gain 10% of autonomy. Oliver Rowland then tried a bold strategy: using Attack Mode, escaping in front of Maximilian Günther and stopping among the last in order to come out with a nice lead in front. An overcut that almost gave him the victory, but the Englishman suffered with his autonomy at the end of the race.
• Taylor Barnard, surprising since qualifying early in the afternoon, takes a second podium in three races! The young Briton held his own against the main favourites and at the end of a clean and intelligent race, the driver McLaren managed to finish in 3rd place just behind Maximilian Günther and Oliver Rowland.
• Apart from Oliver Rowland, the race was tough for the main protagonists of the championship in Jeddah this Friday evening. Porsche had a disastrous first lap: championship leader Antonio Félix da Costa was hit by Nico Müller and hit part of his rear wing. While the Portuguese driver was able to save the day by finishing 9th, this was not the case for his teammate Pascal Wehrlein. The reigning world champion, hit by Mitch Evans, had to stop in the pits at the end of the first lap to change a wheel. The German finished 15th while the New Zealander, forced to change his front wing, finished 21st one lap behind.
• On the French side, Jean-Éric Vergne once again finished in the points with a solid 6th place, even if the DS Penske driver did not have the pace of his teammate on the Corniche circuit. On the other hand, Norman Nato was again unlucky: the Cannes driver was subject to a drive-through penalty for a technical infringement noted before the start, and fell down the rankings before finishing in a distant 18th place.

Formula E – Jeddah E-Prix
Race 1 – Ranking

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