Formula E

Jeddah: Taylor Barnard shines in qualifying & becomes the youngest pole-sitter in Formula E history

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Shiv Gohil / Spacesuit Media

Taylor Barnard secured pole position on Saturday at the Jeddah E-Prix. The Briton in the McLaren beat his compatriot Oliver Rowland (Nissan) in the qualifying final to become the youngest pole-sitter in Formula E history. The second row of the grid went to the two Maserati drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Hughes, while many big names finished far back.

Group A: Wehrlein retires for the first time since Portland

Group A was a real "group of death" on Saturday - with qualifying giants such as Max Günther, Pascal Wehrlein, Oliver Rowland, Mitch Evans and other top drivers. However, Sam Bird in the McLaren took the lead in the first half of the session, followed by Nick Cassidy. Jaguar had been working on the New Zealander's car until shortly before the start of qualifying, after Cassidy complained in FP3 that he did not have the same set-up as his team-mate. Stoffel Vandoorne, Günther, Rowland and Evans then moved into the lead.

Wehrlein improved two minutes before the end, but only to fourth place. There were still some improvements. Vandoorne remained in front ahead of Rowland and Günther, but Bird moved into the duel phase in fourth! Dan Ticktum and David Beckmann, two very strong Kiro drivers, positioned themselves behind them. They beat world champion Wehrlein in the works Porsche, who was eliminated in the group stage for the first time this season and only finished seventh. Behind him were the two disappointing Jaguar drivers Evans and Nick Cassidy. Jake Dennis and Maloney completed the group.

Group B: Barnard once again unbeatable

In group B, Taylor Barnard, Jake Hughes and the two Mahindra drivers were among the favourites. Barnard made his claims known early on and set several fastest times. Towards the halfway point, Antonio Felix da Costa took the lead in the timesheets. He was followed by the two Mahindra drivers Edo Mortara and Nyck de Vries. Barnard didn't let that get to him and reclaimed first place - with the first ever 1:16 lap at 300 kW.

Three minutes before the end, Hughes climbed into second place and Norman Nato also improved into the top four. Then came the decisive final attempts. However, nothing changed in the relevant positions: as on the previous day, Barnard won his group ahead of Hughes, Mortara and Felix da Costa - at least one Porsche in the quarter-finals. They were followed by de Vries, Nato, Jean-Eric Vergne, Robin Frijns, Lucas di Grassi, Sebastien Buemi and Nico Müller.

Overview: Formula E qualifying in Jeddah

Quarter-finals

QF1: Max Günther vs Oliver Rowland

Rowland opened the first quarter-final with a very good first sector. He took a good two tenths of a second off the pole-sitter from the previous day. Günther could not quite match the Brit's time in the second sector either. Rowland also took the final sector and qualified for the semi-final with a lead of just under three tenths of a second!

QF2: Sam Bird vs Stoffel Vandoorne

In the second duel, Vandoorne got off to the slightly better start, but only just. Sector 2, however, went more clearly to the Belgian in the Maserati. Although Bird countered once again in the final section of the track, he was ultimately 82 thousandths of a second down on Vandoorne, who advanced to the final four.

QF3: Edo Mortara vs. Jake Hughes

The second Maserati driver started at a very similar level to his rival Mortara. However, sector 2 clearly went to Hughes. Although Mortara was better in the final section, it was just about enough for Hughes: the Brit entered the semi-final with a 0.008-second lead.

QF4: Antonio Felix da Costa vs Taylor Barnard

In the final quarter-final, both drivers started on an equal footing. However, the second sector belonged to the youngster Barnard. Felix da Costa was unable to counter and had to concede defeat by 2.27 tenths of a second. Barnard shone once again and smashed the previous track record with a lap time of 1:14.840 minutes. He was around six tenths of a second faster than his McLaren team-mate Bird!

Semi-final

SF1: Stoffel Vandoorne vs Oliver Rowland

Rowland made the slightly better start to the first semi-final. Sector 2, however, went to Vandoorne with a slight advantage. It got exciting again. However, Rowland went one better in the final section and beat Vandoorne by a clear 1.76 tenths of a second - the world championship leader in the final!

SF2: Jake Hughes v Taylor Barnard

Barnard was significantly faster than Hughes in the first sector and took even more time off his compatriot in the second section. Hughes ultimately had no chance against Barnard: the McLaren driver beat the Maserati man by more than four tenths of a second! Nevertheless, Maserati MSG was delighted with an all-blue second row on the grid - Vandoorne in third place ahead of Hughes.

Final: Oliver Rowland vs Taylor Barnard

The two drivers opened the final with almost identical sector times. However, Barnard was able to gain a small advantage in the second part of the track. Sector 3 also went to the McLaren driver, meaning that he ultimately came out on top by a clear margin of more than four tenths of a second! Taylor Barnard thus became the youngest pole-sitter in Formula E history! He also secured the first three championship points of Saturday and has the best starting position for the race.

The fourth round of the 2024/25 Formula E World Championship season will take place on Saturday evening at 6 pm (CET). e-Formula.news will follow the race as usual in the Formula E live ticker - ideal as a "second screen" for real fans!

Results, lap times & starting grid

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)

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