Max Gunther takes a dramatic victory in the first ever Jeddah E-Prix! Official F1 Journal Jeddah E-Prix round 3 race report

Credit: Andrew Ferraro

Pole sitter and German racer Maximilian Gunther took victory in the most dramatic of circumstances on Friday in the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia.

Gunther made a last-gasp move around the final chicane in his DS Penske machine, to pass Oliver Rowland to win the first ever Jeddah E-Prix in dramatic circumstances. This also signifies the first win of Gunther's for his DS Penske.

The German driver converted the pole position to victory but left it late in a dramatic twist where his slight amount of extra energy did enough of a job to beat Rowland in his Nissan, who had to settle for second. How much he would have loved to have won.

Taylor Barnard completed the podium with his second podium finish of the season.

Following how the race played out with certain results for certain drivers, second place was enough for Oliver Rowland to take over the championship lead after three rounds and will head into Saturday's round four in Jeddah as the new championship leader.

How the Jeddah E-Prix unfolded (Round 3)

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship was set to embark on a new chapter and too discover a new venue as FIA's first all-electric world series visited Jeddah for the very first time.

Jeddah is known for its hosting of motorsport events, with it playing home to the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ever since its debut on the calendar in 2021. Formula E is not exactly a stranger to Saudi Arabia as the world championship has visited the nation for racing on multiple occasions.

In previous seasons gone by, the Formula E World Championship had headed to Diriyah but this time Formula E heads to Jeddah for the first double-round weekend of the season to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Formula E would be seeing a new feature coming into the round three E-Prix for the first ever race in Jeddah. The new feature being named "Pit Boost" which would be seen in one race across a double-round weekend throughout the season.

This is where the drivers would come into the pit lane for 30 seconds to gain an extra 10% of energy. This pit stop would be mandatory for each driver to serve and it must be served when the car's energy is between 40 and 60 percent.

Double stacking is not allowed so teams will have to choose a preference in which one of their drivers gets the best case in terms of strategy which could lead to controversy if things get heated out on track. Full course yellows and safety cars don't prevent this from taking place. 

This would be something for each of the 22 drivers and the 11 teams to manage and keep well within their minds ahead of the first ever E-Prix in Jeddah in the history of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

In the day's earlier qualifying session, drama was very much existent as it would see DS Penske's Maximilian Gunther get pole position for the first time in the 2024/25 season. This would prevent reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein from picking up three consecutive pole positions in the first three rounds of the season.

On the second row,behind the all-German front row would be filled with two incredibly talented British drivers. Oliver Rowland would qualify third and start third for Nissan while the young NEOM McLaren driver of Taylor Barnard would start fourth.

While Wherlein would be set to start from the front row, his Porsche teammate and championship leader Antonio Felix Da Costa would be knocked out in the group stage phase of qualifying and would end 13th in the final classification. This is where he would start the race.

There would be two 20-place grid penalties for both Lola Yamaha ABT drivers in Lucas Di Grassi and Zane Maloney due to a mechanical punishment as they had a MGU failure that broke the regulations. Therefore, they will have to undertake the penalty.

Maloney would start 20th ahead of Di Grassi in 21st but neither would start at the very back of the grid as Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara was not classified at the end of the qualifying session as he failed to set a lap time. Therefore, he would start from 22nd and last.

All 22 drivers would lineup on the grid and it would be time to go racing for the first time in the Formula E World Championship in Jeddah. Gunther on pole with reigning champion Wehrlein on the front row. Would either of them take victory or would it be one of the other 20?

The lights would go out and the race would be underway with Gunther getting a clean start and leading into the first corner complex with Wehrlein and Rowland side by side in a battle for second.

Further back would be a disastrous start for NEOM McLaren's Sam Bird who would be spun round following contact with another driver.

Rowland would filter out into second and would get ahead of Wehrlein who would be hit from behind by the Jaguar of Mitch Evans and this would cause Wehrlein to pit with damage. Evans would also pick up damage to his bodywork following additional contact with Nyck De Vries of Mahindra.

It would be a opening lap full of contact s Nico Mueller would maeke contact with the rear of championship leader Antonio Felix Da Costa and would go airborn as a result. This would lead to severe damage to the Andretti car of Mueller and he would be unsurprisingly forced to pits.

Despite his team trying to find a possibility of repairing his machine but unfortunately for him it was not to be and he became the first retirement of the race of 31 laps in Jeddah.

Gunther would be managing things well out in front and would pull a gap of over a second to Oliver Rowland who was in second position as on lap 3 attack mode became active with the drivers having to do two trips throughout the 31 lap E-Prix.

Evans would continue with his damaged front wing until the end of lap five when he made the decision to come into the pits as it was affecting his performance. This would cost him track position but he would be looking for a safety car later on in the race to bring him back into contention.

The safety car would then be introduced on lap seven due to debris from the Porsche of Antonio Felix Da Costa in sector two and therefore the pack would be bunched up and this would make the advantage that Gunther had built up become null and void.

Evans would be handed a five-second time penalty for causing a collision on the opening lap compounding his woes and continuing a terrible start to racing in Jeddah for the New Zealander.

After a short stoppage to racing conditions because of the safety car., the race would be back going again at green flag conditions. Gunther maintained the lead well on the opening lap from Rowland, Taylor Barnard, De Vries and Jake Hughes who would be the top five drivers.

Lap 10 and De Vries would pile the pressure on the NEOM McLaren of Barnard and would make his way into the podium positions with a calm and collected move down the inside of turn 13. 

Following contact in one of the two final chicanes of the lap, another position would be lost for Barnard as the Maserati of Hughes would fly by into fourth, demoting Barnard to fifth.

Meanwhile, Nissan's driver Norman Nato was given a drive-through penalty, for a technical infraction, his teammate Oliver Rowlnd would take the lead of the E-Prix. This would be into turn 13 which would be looking like to be a good overtaking area.

Eventually on lap 12, Attack Mode would be used for the first time in the Jeddah E-Prix as Jake Hughes would take four minutes of his allotted eight minutes and he would be looking to capitalise and move himself up the order.

Rowland would be the next driver to go for Attack Mode on lap 14 as many drivers would follow him including the Jaguar of Nick Cassidy, the Maserati of Stoffel Vandoorne and both Envision Racing cars of Sebastian Buemi and Robin Frijns.

The conclusion of lap 14 would also see history as the first drivers to head into the pit lane for the debuting "Pit Boost" format. Into the pit lane first would the Maserati of Jake Hughes, the NEOM McLaren of Taylor Barnard and the Porsche of Antonio Felix Da Costa would be the first three drivers to embark on a historic moment for Formula E.

Following their out laps, Barnard Hughes and Da Costa would also take their first attack modes of the race, as would the Cupra Kiro of David Beckmann. This would tick off one of their two mandatory visits to the Attack Mode station on the very outside of turn 13.

De Vries and Gunther would be among the next drivers and it would be a disaster for Gunther as he would fall behind De Vries in the pit lane and in addition he would fall behind Hughes and Barnard too! A nightmare for the pole sitter.

Lap 17 would be the lap of Rowland's visit to the pit lane for his 30-second stop and he would come out comfortably ahead of what were the leading drivers in the early stages of the 31-lap race.

Attack Mode and Power Boost deployments were happening throughout the field with David Beckmann, Pascal Wehrlein and Zane Maloney being the last three drivers to serve their power boost and because they were yet to stop, they would be the provisional top three in the race,

This would not last long as at the end of lap 19, all three of them would head to the pit lane as battles were starting to unfold between Hughes, Barnard, De Vries and Vergne. The field were becoming bunched up together and battles were starting to unravel in Jeddah,

De Vries who had not been afraid to make moves in earlier stages of the race and he would show no fear in passing Hughes for second with a tidy pass as the Mahindra man was setting his sights on race leader Rowland.

Hughes and Barnard would then be locked in battle but they were under pressure as Gunther with Attack Mode was hunting them down. At the start of lap 22, Gunther would fly by Barnard and further around the circuit the German would overtake Hughes.

Attack Mode was continuing to play useful for drivers throughout the field as Mahindra's Mortara would pass Da Costa and Vergne on lap 23 and soon enough would be up into sixth place when the Attack Mode expired.

Apart from Buemi and Bird, the other 19 drivers remaining would still need to make another journey to attack mode in order to comply with the regulations and therefore the race was far from its finishing order.

Barnard needed to overtake Hughes and without delving for his second Attack Mode and he would do just that, overtaking his fellow Brit for fourth with sights on his second Formula E podium.

As for the top three on lap 25, De Vries and Gunther would take their final four minutes of Attack Mode as the two drivers in second and third were keen on impacting the latter stages of Oliver Rowland's E-Prix.

Gunther had been showing some stronger pace than De Vries before they went into their second Attack Modes. The pole sitter made no mistake and showed no hesitation as the DS Penske car moved up into second place.

The following two laps and most drivers who had Attack Mode left took their final minute of Attack Mode as the E-Prix was approaching the latter stages of the E-Prix. Rowland would be in the lead from Gunther, De Vries, Barnard and Mortara completing the top five at the start of lap 28.

Gunther's pace continued to be strong with both on their final moments of Attack Mode. Rowland had the upper hand as his Attack Mode was set to last longer than Gunther but Gunther was showing great speed and was hounding the pressure upon the Nissan driver.

Barnard having a great pace would use his final piece of Attack Mode to get into a provisional podium place as he took third from the Mahindra of De Vries as things were heating up into the final two minutes of the first ever Jeddah E-Prix.

Things would boil down to the final lap of the E-Prix with Gunther pressuring Rowland and gaining on the race leader. Barnard brought himself into the picture as the front pair were fighting and holding each other up and leaving themselves in the clutches of the youngster.

Energy would be tight for Rowland as Gunther would find a way through in the final chicane and in the most dramatic of circumstances would take the lead to take victory in Saudi Arabia. Gunther converted pole position into victory in the first ever Jeddah E-Prix. 

A historic moment for the German as he took his first victory for DS Penske in "a grandstand finish" to quote lead commentator Tom Brooks. He took victory from Oliver Rowland, who did everything he could but would have to be content with second for Nissan.

​Taylor Barnard completed the podium in third for his second podium finish in the first three rounds of the 2024/25 Formula E season. Nyck De Vries would take fourth for Mahindra in a great effort by the 2021 Formula E World Champion. Maserati's Jake Hughes completed the top five.

Jean-Eric Vergne was sixth for DS Penske in a great result and a great haul of points for the team. Edoardo Mortara made it a double points finish Mahindra in seventh with another double points finish for NEOM McLaren as Sam Bird recovered to take eighth.

To complete the points-paying positions, Porsche's Portuguese superstar Antonio Felix Da Costa finished ninth with the 2022 Formula E Champion Stoffel Vandoorne completed the top 10.

Lucas Di Grassi would be disqualified after the race for using more than the maximum energy allowed in an E-Prix.

Rowland would take over the championship lead following the points haul and the gain in points on the previous championship leader Da Costa. He would head into the second round of the double round weekend, on Saturday, as the new championship leader.

Action in Jeddah would return for free practice 3 to kick off the round four action on Saturday, and after a thrilling opening round of Formula E action around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, you would be unfortunate to miss the upcoming events.

2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Round 3 - Jeddah E-Prix race result

1. Maximilian Gunther (Germany, DS Penske)
2. Oliver Rowland (Great Britain, Nissan)
3. Taylor Barnard (Great Britain, NEOM McLaren)
4. Nyck De Vries (Netherlands, Mahindra Racing)
5. Jake Hughes (Great Britain, Maserati)
6. Jean-Eric Vergne (France, DS Penske)
7. Edoardo Mortara (Switzerland, Mahindra Racing)
8. Sam Bird (Great Britain, NEOM McLaren)
9. Antonio Felix Da Costa (Portugal, Porsche)
10. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium, Maserati)
11. Nick Cassidy (New Zealand, Jaguar)
12. Sebastian Buemi (Switzerland, Envision Racing)
13. Robin Frijns (Netherlands, Envision Racing)
14. David Beckmann (Germany, Cupra Kiro)
15. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany, Porsche)
16. Zane Maloney (Barbados, Lola Yamaha ABT)
17. Norman Nato (France, Nissan)
18. Dan Ticktum (Great Britain, Cupra Kiro)
19. Mitch Evans (New Zealand, Jaguar)
20. Jake Dennis (Great Britain, Andretti) *DNF*
21. Nico Mueller (Switzerland, Andretti) *DNF*
22. Lucas Di Grassi (Brazil, Lola Yamaha ABT) *DSQ*

Brandon Whiteside
Writer & X Contributor - F1 Journal