After pole and P2 from Jean-Eric Vergne on Friday, Stoffel Vandoorne follows up with top-five finishes in qualifying and the race at the Diriyya E-Prix on Saturday
DS-Penske leave the Diriyya E-Prix in Saudi Arabia with some important points. Jaguar and Porsche, who led the way in Formula E 2023 and are also at the front at the start of the still young 2024 season, now know that the French-American team is also a force to be reckoned with
Jean-Eric Vergne’s result on Friday – pole in qualifying and second place in the race – combined with the fact that both cars finished in the points on Saturday is something of a relief for Eugenio Franzetti, Director of DS Performance.
“Friday was a great day for the DS Penske team,” emphasizes the representative of DS Automobiles in Formula E. “Our results since the beginning of the season and especially here show the very good performance of our DS E-TENSE FE23. These points are good for morale, especially at the start of the season,” says Franzetti.
“Of course, we know that we still have to work on catching up with some of our competitors. But I am confident that we will manage that. Now that we know the areas where we still have room for improvement, we can continue to work in the right direction,” says the Director of DS Performance.
As challengers to Porsche and Jaguar, DS-Penske was often within striking distance in 2023, but not seriously able to challenge them throughout the season. Since the start of the 2024 season, the team’s cars have become more competitive – and with drivers who are up to the task.
Progress must be confirmed
In Formula E, it comes down to a few things, with the fundamental trends always coming to the fore in the end. Stoffel Vandoorne, for example, was unable to set a fast lap in qualifying on Friday in Diriyya, but the following day he showed his true level of performance.
After a convincing free practice session (Vergne in P2 and Vandoorne in P6), the two DS Penske drivers made it into the top four, despite being in the same qualifying group, and thus progressed to the quarter-finals. As the duels progressed, Vandoorne then eliminated Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) and moved into the semi-finals. The Belgian started from fourth place, while Jean-Eric Vergne took eighth place on the grid
During the second race of the weekend, the leaders from the previous day were not all equally competitive. And the fact that Saturday’s race was one lap shorter (36 instead of 37) reshuffled the cards in terms of energy strategy.
As in the season opener in Mexico City, DS-Penske played for position, with Vandoorne finishing fifth and Vergne eighth. These results currently place Vergne third in the drivers’ standings and DS-Penske second in the constructors’ standings – behind Jaguar, but ahead of Porsche and Porsche customer team Andretti.
Due to the cancellation of the race in Hyderabad (India), originally scheduled for mid-February, Formula E will now take a seven-week break until the race in Sao Paulo (Brazil). The teams can use this time to fine-tune their formula cars for what is sure to be a highly competitive season.
