"Never expected to be here" - Taylor Barnard surprisingly becomes Formula E's youngest podium finisher

Nobody would have expected this: Taylor Barnard finished his first Formula E race as a full-time driver for McLaren in third place - after being way behind the field at one point. Barnard thus became the youngest podium finisher in Formula E history and could hardly believe it himself. At 20 years and 189 days old, he took over from Daniel Abt, who was the youngest driver on a podium since the 2015 Miami E-Prix.

"I never expected to be here - that's for sure. I had to have the front wing changed and had a drive-through penalty... I have no idea what to say," an emotional Barnard said shortly after the race.

The 20-year-old had only started from 17th on the grid and also suffered setbacks early on in the race. "I was last in the first 15 laps of the race, but the red flags brought us back into the game. We were right at the back and were obviously hoping for a safety car."

*drops mic* ? pic.twitter.com/okBXlvI3Or

- NEOM McLaren FE (@McLarenFE) December 7, 2024

Barnard had not only suffered damage to the front end, but also received a drive-through penalty for "power overuse", as did all four Nissan cars. In other words, his car had used too much power due to a software inaccuracy. As a result, he dropped down the order - like team-mate Sam Bird.

With energy advantage & attack mode to P3

"The drive-through penalty gave us more time and allowed us to save a lot of energy," explains Barnard. After the heavy crash by Pascal Wehrlein and the associated second red flag phase, the two McLaren drivers actually had a clear energy advantage over the competition and also had an attack mode to use.

"The second attack mode came at the perfect time to make up positions," says Barnard. "The team did a fantastic job with the strategy. We executed it very well towards the end of the race. I have hardly any words for what happened - it's just amazing!"

Because of the energy advantage, some McLaren fans may even have hoped for victory. Barnard, however, does not believe that more would have been possible. "To be honest, no. I tried everything to make up more positions, but unfortunately that wasn't possible. I was limited by the temperature and tyre grip."

Instead, he emphasised the role of his team-mate Bird, who finished the race in fourth place behind him: "In the end, Sam helped me to bring this third place home. He didn't have to do that, so I'm very grateful to him. Having him by my side with all his experience is fantastic."

Sorry about that, Taylor. ?? pic.twitter.com/qL3PzaMg6t

- NEOM McLaren FE (@McLarenFE) December 7, 2024