Taylor Barnard, DS Penske DS E-Tense FE25
Photo by: DPPI
After being stripped of a brilliantly earned pole position for exceeding the track limits by a few centimetres, Taylor Barnard consoled himself with a solid fourth place in the Formula E Mexico City E-Prix.
Maximilian Guenther, meanwhile, was showing promising pace before a collision dropped him back to 12th place.
This weekend, Formula E celebrated its 150th race since the championship was created. This is a symbolic number, as is that of DS Automobiles, which has been involved since season 2 and was present for the 139th time on the starting grid, with the most extensive list of achievements in the discipline.
In Mexico City, for the series' 10th visit to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the French manufacturer once again took centre stage. For Barnard, however, this was only his second appearance on the 2.608km track. But the Briton immediately showed himself to be at ease, drawing on extensive simulation work beforehand. The young DS Penske driver was among the frontrunners over the weekend, supported by the experience of his team-mate Guenther.
Held at an altitude of over 2,200m, the Mexican round is always a particular challenge for both drivers and cars. The thin air has a particular impact on battery cooling and requires a specific approach to energy strategy. During the first free practice session, held in an outside temperature of 20°C, the teams made numerous adjustments. Between tyre changes, refining chassis settings and applying different mappings, the hierarchy remained unclear for much of the session.
The DS E-Tense FE25s, which quickly found their rhythm before becoming more discreet, resurfaced in the final minutes. Barnard and Guenther stepped up their pace to move into second and third place, before falling back slightly behind Porsche and Nissan. With the top five separated by less than three tenths of a second, the stage was set for the rest of the weekend.
Maximilian Guenther, DS Penske DS E-Tense FE25
Photo by: DPPI
On Saturday morning, the drivers were back on the track at 7:30am for final adjustments. It was only 10°C as the sun rose over the Mexican megacity. Guenther immediately took the lead, while the teams anticipated a possible deterioration in conditions, with the weather forecast predicting a 40% chance of rain. The session ended with two DS Penske cars in the top 10, with a promising third place for Barnard. An hour and a half later, under the packed stands of the Foro Sol, qualifying finally got under way in sunny conditions.
In Group A, Barnard quickly set a fast pace. Second at the halfway point, he returned to the pits to prepare for a final flying lap that secured his place in the quarter-finals. In Group B, Guenther adopted a similar strategy but fell short by just one tenth of a second, finishing fifth in his group. Barnard then eliminated Nico Mueller (Porsche) in the quarter-finals, before beating Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra) in the semi-finals after a hard-fought duel.
In the final, he faced Sebastien Buemi (Envision), a veteran of the discipline. The Briton set the fastest time and thought he had secured the second pole position of his career, his first with DS Penske... until his lap was cancelled for slightly exceeding the track limits. He finally started from second position, with Guenther qualifying ninth on the grid.
Buemi missed his braking point at the first corner, allowing Barnard to immediately take the lead. Günther also got off to a good start and gained three positions. The two DS drivers then adopted a cautious approach, navigating in the top 10 and delaying the activation of their first Attack Mode in order to conserve energy. But the deployment of a safety car neutralised the race with 14 laps to go. At the restart, the hierarchy was shattered, but the two DS cars still seemed capable of aiming for a top 10 finish, or even a podium place.
However, Guenther was the collateral victim of a collision involving other competitors, which dropped him out of the points to 12th position. At the front, Barnard continued to attack and fight for the podium. Two extra laps were added by the race director, and the Briton finally had to settle for a solid fourth place, after being one of the major contenders in the race.
The third round of the Formula E world championship will take place on 31 January in Miami (United States).
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- The Autosport.com Team
Source: Autosport