Nissan driver Oliver Rowland wins the second Formula E race in Saudi Arabia with ease – Three Brits on the podium – Taylor Barnard second ahead of Jake Hughes
After his narrow defeat in the first Formula E race in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Oliver Rowland struck back on Saturday. The Nissan driver had the best strategy with the attack mode and won the second race with a lead of almost six seconds over Taylor Barnard (McLaren-Nissan) and Jake Hughes (Maserati).
Barnard secured pole position in qualifying, snatching a record from Daniel Abt of Germany. At the age of 20, Barnard is now the youngest driver in Formula E history to have clinched a pole position.
After two Germans started from the front row on Friday, it was two Brits on Saturday. Rowland qualified in second place. Friday’s winner Maximilian Günther (DS-Penske) was in sixth place on the grid.
The second race on the three-kilometre city circuit took place without a pit stop (“pit boost”), although the distance remained unchanged at 31 laps. This meant that energy management played an even greater role.
Barnard won the start in front of Hughes and Rowland. There was a collision further back on the first lap, in which Antonio Felix da Costa was spun around. Günther had crashed into the side of the Porsche.
Both drove to the pits. Günther had to retire with a damaged suspension. Felix da Costa’s left rear tire was changed and he was sent back out. But the Portuguese didn’t get far before he had to get out.
Collision on lap one
Maximilian Günther goes deep and makes contact with da Costa sending them both to the pits. JeddahEPrix pic.twitter.com/bkONluQwxE
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 15, 2025
The field remained close together. It was a typically tactical Formula E race. Nobody wanted to take the lead in order to save energy in the slipstream. Positions changed constantly. Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) was also among the leaders.
For the final phase, Rowland, Hughes and Jean-Eric Vergne (DS-Penske) still had six minutes of Attack Mode (more power plus all-wheel drive) available, while the other drivers in the leading group only had four minutes left.
Rowland chose the right tactic, took the lead on lap 26 and tried to pull out a lead with the remaining attack mode. It worked, because Rowland pulled out a five-second lead and went on to take a commanding victory.
Tight battle for the places behind Rowland
The fight for the remaining podium places was exciting right up to the finish. At the start of the third-last lap, Barnard was in second place ahead of Vergne and Hughes. But Hughes still had attack mode. He first overtook Vergne and then put pressure on Barnard.
Barnard defended his position and secured second place. In the last few corners, Hughes had to defend against Jake Dennis (Andretti-Porsche). He managed to do so and Hughes finished third. With Dennis in fourth place, the first four positions went to British drivers.
BARNARD ON THE CHARGE
Can the youngest @juliusbaer pole sitter claim his first win? JeddahEPrix pic.twitter.com/gZmhBiPJSU
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 15, 2025
Wehrlein finished eighth. David Beckmann (Cupra-Porsche) came home 17th and scored no championship points. The Swiss results: Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra) came in tenth and Nico Müller (Andretti-Porsche) eleventh. Sebastien Buemi (Envision-Jaguar) finished 19th.
This result means that Rowland has extended his lead in the championship to 17 points. Barnard is now in second place. Felix da Costa is now 29 points behind after this disastrous weekend. The best-placed German is Günther in fourth place in the championship, 31 points behind Rowland.
“We’re taking it one race at a time,” says Rowland about being the favorite, ‘and doing our best. But things are looking pretty good for us.’ The season continues on April 12. The fifth race will take place in Homestead (USA).
