For the first time in its 12-season history, Formula E held a race at the Jarama circuit, located near Madrid. It had been 45 years since the Spanish circuit last hosted a round of a world championship. Formula E and its electric single-seaters – a championship born from the initiative of a Madrid-based businessman – was the logical choice for the series to bring this track back into the spotlight.
A new circuit is often an advantage for the most experienced teams, such as DS Penske. The Franco-American team, supported by DS Automobiles’ staff for car development, has often proved superior on tracks where no one had driven before.
In this case, it is true that FE had already been granted a test session last year, following the severe weather that had ravaged the area around the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.
Making an impression in testing
At Jarama, during the first free practice session, the two DS Penske cars were among the frontrunners. Maximilian Gunther clocked the third fastest time, and Taylor Barnard was fifth.
The track is long, the longest of the season at 3.934 km with 14 corners, and the weather over the last few days has not been conducive to grip. The long start straight, which ends in a tight right-hand corner, offers the first overtaking opportunity. However, drivers had to wait until Turn 7 to activate Attack Mode – a strategic point in an ‘energy-intensive’ race where cars spend a lot of time at full throttle and energy recovery is crucial.
It’s a style that the old hands of FE have mastered better than anyone, and even though Barnard is the youngest on the grid, he can count on his team’s wealth of experience.
The grey and cool weather, and damp track conditions, meant the qualifying groups got off to a slow start. The benchmark ‘push lap’ time was set on the fourth lap, less than three minutes before the end of the allotted time. The two DS Penske drivers, meanwhile, found themselves in Group B.
The wet track conditions, combined with the electric single-seaters’ ‘all-weather’ tyres, made on-track performance highly unpredictable, particularly on this undulating circuit. But Gunther came out on top and advanced to the quarter-finals. There he faced French driver Norman Nato, before being caught out by the persistently slippery track. Gunther qualified seventh on the starting grid, while Barnard started from 15th position.
A fast-paced race
The drivers had 23 laps to battle it out on a circuit new to the series, and getting the tyres up to temperature proved a challenge.
At the start, Gunther moved wide and gained a place before the first corner. On the third lap, he broke into the top five and set the fastest lap of the race – 1.5 seconds faster than the leader’s benchmark time.
Behind him, Barnard did his job and made a steady climb, closing in on the top 10. For this race, drivers were allowed a single six-minute Attack mode and had to pit once to recharge (the famous Pitboost, designed to spice up the action whilst the cars have enough energy to cover the entire race).
This was a key strategic point, and often a strength of the DS Penske team when it comes to determining the right tactics. In the race, everything would be decided between laps 11 and 16, with Gunther and Barnard adopting staggered strategies and the German driver being the first to pit.
The move put him virtually second in the race, until the Attack modes electrify the action. In this context, Gunther is the first of the drivers who had already made a pit stop to activate his extra energy. He spent those six minutes putting pressure on Antonio Felix da Costa’s Jaguar. Gunther set a new race lap record and took the lead. But behind him, 11 drivers had not yet activated their Attack mode.
Gunther, therefore, had to hold on for the remaining six laps, and losing places became inevitable. The 154th Formula E race – the 143rd for DS Automobiles – ended outside the top 10 for both DS Penske drivers.
The next round of the FE World Championship will take place on 2 and 3 May in Berlin (Germany).
