"Our strategy was a mistake" - DS Penske driver disappointed after 1st Jeddah race

The two DS Penske drivers Maximilian Günther and Taylor Barnard had secured a very good starting position in the first qualifying session of the double-header in Jeddah with grid positions 2 and 5. However, the good starting positions did not translate into a good race result. Both drivers put this down to a poorly chosen strategy.

DS Penke finished the first Jeddah race of the season with just a single point, even though both drivers were able to show in qualifying that the cars worked well on the track. Barnard finished the race in tenth place and thus secured at least one point. Günther finished one place behind his team-mate, narrowly missing out on the points.

Günther: "We win together, we lose together"

A disappointing result, which the German attributes to the strategy chosen by the team. "Some things didn't go right today", he told e-Formula.news after the race. He was the first in the field to drive over the Attack Mode loop in order to utilise the extra kilowatts from the activation. Not a well-chosen time, as he describes.

"The positive things are of course: we were almost in pole position, we were leading the race and we were in a very good position up to the point when we went into Attack Mode. It was a bad decision, but it is what it is."

Although he had worked his way to the front of the field by using attack mode and was able to stay there for a long time, he then fell further and further back as his rivals also activated the extra power. Günther was no longer able to defend his position. However, he does not hold it against his team: "We win together, we lose together."

Barnard: "We had hoped for more points"

Barnard was also disappointed after the race. Things looked promising for him too during the race, until he fell further and further back. "Obviously not very good", he described his race to e-Formula.news. "After qualifying we had hoped for more points. I think our strategy was a mistake. I think we just have to analyse what we did wrong and improve it for next time."

The second Jeddah race is scheduled for this Saturday. This time, however, without the Pit Boost, where the approach to the race will have to be slightly different. "I think we are very good at adapting", says Günther, looking positively to the next race. The race starts at 18:05 (CET).