Formula E history made as titanic last-lap scrap decides Jeddah victory

Maximilian Günther converted pole position into victory at the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix, after stunning the crowd with a last-lap overtake for the win. 

The German secured his first win since Jakarta 2023 and DS Penske's first since the same year courtesy of a move on Oliver Rowland at the final chicane. 

A power advantage benefitted Günther, whilst teenage rookie Taylor Barnard secured a second podium in the first three races of the season. 

Nyck de Vries spent large portions of the race battling in the podium places, but had to settle for fourth in the end. 

First lap mayhem

As the first race of both the pit boost era of Formula E got underway in Jeddah – the first time in motorsport history mid-race charging had been conducted – it was Günther from pole who made the best start. 

It was chaos behind, as Mitch Evans sustained significant front wing damage following an incident with both Pascal Wehrlein and Nyck de Vries. 

Evans – who received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision – and Wehrlein were both forced to pit for repairs, whilst Nico Müller had to retire due to substantial damage to the front of his car after a heavy hit with Antonio Felix da Costa. 

Müller drove up the back of da Costa's car, breaking part of the rear-end of the Portuguese driver's car. da Costa continued, whilst the mayhem promoted Oliver Rowland and Taylor Barnard into second and third. 

A safety car was required in the opening stages to clear all the debris, closing the field up. Soon after the race restarted, de Vries overtook Barnard for third, whilst Rowland took the lead. 

Lap 12, and Season 9 world champion Jake Dennis became the first driver to activate Attack Mode, something which was still required despite the introduction of Pit Boost. 

At the end of Lap 14 FE history was made, as Jake Hughes and an array of others became the first in the sport's history to pit for the 10% recharge. It remained Rowland, Günther and de Vries as the top three. 

That was until Lap 17, when Günther and de Vries became the first of the lead drivers to take Pit Boost. 

By Lap 20, all 21 drivers still in the race had taken Pit Boost, which did impact the initial order before any driver took it.  

Rowland remained in the lead, but ahead of Hughes and Barnard. As has been the case all season, Attack Mode was very strong, with de Vries having moved into second with ease following the use of his first temporary power advantage. 

However, Rowland had built a huge three-and-a-half second advantage in the lead. With nine laps remaining, the podium places behind the superior Briton remained up for grabs.

Closing laps

As the race entered its final eight laps, Rowland led de Vries and Günther by almost four seconds. Hughes and Taylor Barnard completed the top five, with all lead drivers still having an attack mode to activate. 

The race settled for a few laps, that was until Günther sent it up the inside of de Vries for second place on Lap 26. Günther had supreme pace, and set about hunting down Rowland. 

Behind, de Vries quickly lost ground to the DS Penske driver and was soon overtaken by McLaren's Barnard. 

At the front, Günther quickly destroyed Rowland's lead and found himself within a second of the Briton, who was suddenly noted for a pit lane infringement. 

Günther was all over Rowland on the penultimate lap, smothering Rowland's mirrors with gold and black. As the final lap started, Barnard joined the victory party, putting Rowland under immense pressure.

The Nissan driver did everything in his power; however, power was his downfall in the end as Günther's minimal energy advantage allowed the German to sweep around the outside of Rowland at the final chicane to snatch victory.

Rowland narrowly held on for second, ahead of Barnard and de Vries provisionally. Hughes completed the top five, whilst Rowland moved into the lead of the championship.