– With bright sunshine over the Principality, the first day of the Monaco E-Prix offered DS-Penske a tactical and exciting race. In the end, after a strong performance on the track, there were important points for the team.
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Formula E, as is now customary, started on Saturday morning at 7:30 am for the first thirty-minute practice session. It was a comparatively quiet session, shaken up by a few near-misses, with a strict focus on setup work.
At DS-Penske, the focus was more on setup than on pure performance. Nevertheless, Taylor Barnard secured the ninth fastest time.
The pace was significantly faster in the second session. While fine-tuning for qualifying was underway, Barnard narrowly missed the wall in the tunnel. Meanwhile, Maximilian Günther confirmed the potential of the DS E-Tense FE25 with the fourth-best time.
Both DS-Penske drivers were drawn into the highly competitive Group A for qualifying. This greatly reduced their chances of reaching the quarterfinals. But Max Günther survived the session and was able to advance to the Duels. There, he would face a duel with Nico Müller and his Porsche.
However, Müller could not keep up with the pace of the DS-Penske on the demanding track. In the end, Maximilian Günther secured an excellent starting position in third place for an E-Prix that was advertised as highly tactical. Taylor Barnard also had the chance to prove himself from eleventh place.
At the start, the front positions remained unchanged. Günther was able to efficiently manage his energy in third place while staying within striking distance of the leaders. Barnard, for his part, maintained the pace and drove outside the top 10. The entire field moderated a bit, as they needed their own car for two races this weekend.
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A collision between two cars caused a safety car phase. After the restart, the previous order remained, and energy management would become the decisive factor in the 29-lap race. In laps 14 and 16, the race took a turn due to the pit-boost box stops, the mandatory battery recharge required by the regulations.
The field was mixed up during this phase of the race, costing Max Günther several positions. Until then, he had firmly placed himself on the provisional podium. Nevertheless, the DS-Penske driver stayed in the game through his use of Attack Mode.
This enables all-wheel drive and more power for six minutes. After a minor collision with Nico Müller, he finished eighth.
In the end, the result was nullified by a five-second time penalty. This related to the mentioned collision. Meanwhile, Taylor Barnard delivered a solid performance. Starting from eleventh place, the Brit fought his way up to seventh and was able to score important points for the Franco-American team.
On Sunday, the second E-Prix in Monaco will be held with one lap less. However, two “Attack Mode” phases and no pit boost are planned. This change will force teams to rethink their strategy.
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Transparency note: This article was made possible with the help of a production cost subsidy from DS Automobiles. There was no content influence from DS on the article.
