Pole position, victory and fastest race lap: Max Günther achieved an impressive Grand Slam for DS Penske in the first race of the Jeddah E-Prix.
For the first time, Formula E visited the Formula One circuit in Jeddah, which is picturesquely situated on the shores of the Red Sea. “Premieres” seem to bring DS Penske luck: the team’s last victory dates back to February 11, 2023 in Hyderabad – also on an unknown and temporary city street circuit.
In Jeddah, the action began on Thursday with a rookie test and the first free practice session. The teams initially took it easy, focusing on tire management and electronics. But by Friday morning, the intensity increased. With comparatively mild afternoon temperatures, the teams used the second practice session to optimize their setups.
In this precision game, Max Günther quickly emerged as a serious contender. He set the second-fastest time of the session, while Jean-Eric Vergne missed out on qualifying for the quarterfinals by just four thousandths of a second.
Günther dominates qualifying
In the first duel, Günther took on Mahindra driver Nyck de Vries in his DS E-TENSE FE25. With a statistical chance of winning of 75 percent, Günther easily prevailed and reached the semi-finals, where he met 20-year-old Briton Taylor Barnard. Here, Günther’s experience made the difference and he advanced to the qualifying final with DS Penske for the first time.
Waiting there was none other than Pascal Wehrlein, the reigning world champion. But Günther delivered a perfect lap and crossed the finish line with an advantage of almost three-tenths of a second. This secured his first pole position for DS-Penske – and the first of the season for the team.
“We did a great job as a team, and I want to thank DS Penske for the fantastic car,” said Günther immediately after the session. ‘I felt comfortable in every turn, and this pole position comes at exactly the right time. Now we have to translate this performance into the race.’ What he didn’t know yet: It should go even better!
Perfect race strategy brings victory
At the start, Günther immediately set a strong pace and defended the lead. Vergne, who started the race from tenth place, made up four positions within the first three laps. After several incidents, the safety car came onto the track and neutralized the race briefly.
After that, the biggest innovation of the season was put to the test: PitBoost. This allows drivers to recover 3.85 kilowatts of additional battery power through a mandatory 34-second pit stop. In combination with the attack mode, which provides a total of eight minutes of additional power, the race strategy became a real puzzle. But in this complex scenario, DS-Penske played its cards perfectly.
In the second half of the race, when Günther was initially in sixth place, he activated his first attack mode at the ideal moment to gradually work his way forward. With less than ten minutes remaining, he was in third place and in a perfect position to attack. His second and final attack mode, activated at the same time as Barnard’s, gave him the decisive advantage.
In the closing laps, Günther spotted an opening against Oliver Rowland’s Nissan. While Günther had managed his energy optimally, Rowland’s reserves were dangerously low. On the last lap, the Nissan had only 0.4 percent battery power left, while Günther had a clear advantage with one percent. He used this to launch a decisive attack, secure victory and set the fastest race lap.
The race was rounded off by a solid performance from Vergne, who scored valuable points for DS-Penske with a sixth place finish. The second race in Jeddah is scheduled for Saturday evening at the same time. One thing is for sure: the DS-Penske cars will be in the spotlight again!
