Formula E

Formula E in Jeddah: Nissan driver Oliver Rowland wins on Saturday and extends his world championship lead

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Paddy McGrath / Spacesuit Media

Oliver Rowland won Saturday's Formula E race in Jeddah. The world championship leader in the Nissan ultimately won by almost six seconds ahead of Taylor Barnard (McLaren) and Jake Hughes (Maserati), who also finished on the podium. Jake Dennis and Nick Cassidy completed the Top 5, while Max Günther, Antonio Felix da Costa and Mitch Evans retired early.

Just before the race was due to start, Lucas di Grassi in the Lola got stuck, causing a brief delay. However, he was able to restart under his own power and then the race got underway. Pole-sitter Taylor Barnard got off the line well and was first through the first chicane. Jake Hughes also got off to a very good start and beat Oliver Rowland to second place for the Maserati driver.

Behind them, there was another crash in turn 4 - again with Antonio Felix da Costa blameless! Max Günther got alongside the turning Porsche on the inside and spun it. Felix da Costa dropped back and had to come into the pits to retire a little later. So did Friday's winner Günther, who complained of damage to the front right suspension and retired in the pits. The German also received a penalty.

Di Grassi was the first driver to take his first of two attack modes on lap 4. The new pit boost was not used on Saturday, so the increase in power was the only strategic feature for the drivers this time. Dan Ticktum showed a strong start and fought his way past fifth-placed Sam Bird on lap 5. However, di Grassi now stormed up from behind with additional power. The Brazilian moved up to second place - a first for a Lola racing car.

Many shifts due to attack mode

The lead changed hands for the first time on lap 7: Rowland overtook Barnard. Behind him, Jean-Eric Vergne now drove ahead of di Grassi. However, Pascal Wehrlein also picked up his first attack mode relatively early on and moved up to third place. Sebastien Buemi had to pit on lap 10 - the next bad day for the season 2 champion.

While Rowland continued to lead the field, Vergne and Barnard swapped places - now the Briton was back in second place, while his team-mate Bird received a 5-second time penalty for not following the instructions of the race director. Robin Frijns then raced up in attack mode and temporarily took the lead at the Jeddah E-Prix.

Now it was Jake Hughes who ploughed through the field in attack mode - up to third place. On lap 14, Rowland also picked up his first attack mode and took the lead again shortly afterwards. Mitch Evans had also quietly worked his way up to sixth place - one position ahead of Wehrlein. Barnard and Vergne finally drove through the attack zone for the first time and chose to make a break for the front. Barnard regained the lead on lap 17. Vergne, however, remained behind Rowland.

Dennis storms to the front

Now it was the still points-less Nick Cassidy who cruised through the top 10 - albeit in his second attack mode. In contrast to the previous day, front-runner Rowland managed his energy very well and still had almost two per cent more than his direct pursuers. Alongside him, Jake Dennis had also managed his energy very well and was now driving forwards in attack mode. On lap 24, he overtook Rowland in turn 13 for first place.

The Nissan driver reacted immediately and drove through the attack zone. Rowland still had six minutes left in attack mode, Dennis only half a minute. Rowland closed the gap to the leader again. He regained first place on lap 26, also at turn 13, while Evans drove into the pits and got out of his race car - the next premature retirement for the beleaguered Jaguar team!

Behind Rowland, Dennis, Vergne and Barnard were now battling for second place. The McLaren driver positioned himself skilfully and overtook his two opponents with a great manoeuvre. Hughes was also well placed in fourth place with two laps to go because he had two minutes longer in attack mode than his opponents ahead of him. On lap 29 of 31, he was the first to catch Vergne and then chased down Barnard in second place.

Exciting battle for the podium

Hughes attacked in turn 1, but Barnard held out bravely - the decisive scene for second place! Hughes had to take a shortcut in the chicane, but stayed right behind Barnard. But then his attack mode ran out. Rowland started the final lap in the lead with a lead of almost four seconds and was to take his second win of the season! Behind him it remained exciting, but Barnard stayed second ahead of Hughes. Dennis produced another strong manoeuvre against Vergne to take fourth place. Cassidy finished fifth ahead of Vandoorne, Vergne and Wehrlein.

Oliver Rowland leaves Saudi Arabia as the overall leader in the drivers' championship. He is already 17 points ahead of Barnard, who climbed into second place. Felix da Costa is still third despite his retirement. Nissan has taken the lead in the team standings and is now one point ahead of its own customer team, McLaren. This means that Nissan also leads the manufacturers' championship by a considerable margin. Porsche is now only third in both rankings - DS Penske overtook them in the teams' standings and Stellantis in the manufacturers' standings.

The next Formula E race will (only) take place on 12 April. The electric series will then return to Miami after many years. Until then, we will of course keep you up to date with all the latest information about Formula E.

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