First race at the Tokyo E-Prix: DS-Penske highlights its potential

– In the first of the two Formula E races in Tokyo, DS-Penske narrowly missed a top result on Sunday. The French-American team was consistently in the leading group and impressively demonstrated the competitiveness of the DS E-Tense FE25 on this track.

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This season, the Formula E World Championship is breaking new ground by hosting a double E-Prix at night in the Japanese capital. The 2.58-kilometer street circuit with its 18 turns will be completely illuminated by floodlights. While this creates a unique spectacle, it also presents a real challenge for the drivers.

“At night – and if it rains – it could get extremely tricky,” said Taylor Barnard before free practice. The Briton had already stood on the podium here in 2025. “But the track is really cool. It’s almost surreal to drive through the streets of such a megacity – especially for someone like me who is a big video game fan.”

After a downpour that delayed the first free practice by 15 minutes, the drivers found a still damp and extremely treacherous track. Despite these difficult conditions, Maximilian Günther set the second-fastest time of the session – he was only two tenths of a second off the best time. The result was all the more remarkable as the German had been battling a fever just a few hours earlier.

On Saturday, the conditions changed completely. In oppressive heat, both DS E-Tense FE25 cars already confirmed their competitiveness in the second free practice: Günther finished seventh, Barnard tenth. In qualifying, the English driver made it to the quarter-finals for the eighth time this season.

In the duel against Jake Dennis, the Briton showed a solid performance and ultimately secured an excellent fifth starting position. Günther narrowly missed the duel phase as fifth in his group but started the race from a promising ninth position.

DS-Penske competes at the front

At the start of the 36-lap race, both drivers had a good start and each gained a position. Barnard quickly established himself in the leading group, while Günther chose a slightly more patient strategy to optimize his energy consumption.

In an E-Prix with Pit-Boost and a single, six-minute Attack Mode, the perfect execution of the strategy is crucial. The DS-Penske team implemented this flawlessly: Günther completed his mandatory stop exactly at half-race distance as the first. Barnard extended his stint by three laps and drove the temporarily fastest race lap during this phase.

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After the Pit-Boost sequence was completed, both DS E-Tense FE25 cars remained in positions that promised significant points. In the final third of the race, Barnard fully utilized his Attack Mode and moved back up to fourth place – further proof of his car’s excellent race pace. Günther decided to activate the additional power later to have maximum power available in the final laps.

However, the extremely tight energy management in this first race reshuffled the cards at the end. Given staggered strategies and a tightly packed field, both drivers lost several positions in the final meters.

Barnard at least salvaged a point by finishing tenth, while Günther was ultimately classified 15th. This result hardly reflects the team’s true performance, which was consistently in the top 10 and able to compete at the front for long stretches.

Hope for Sunday

Beyond the pure result, DS-Penske takes a lot of positives from this first race: a fast car on a demanding track, a strong qualifying performance, race pace at the level of the leaders, and a well-executed strategy.

These elements form an encouraging basis for the second race in Tokyo, which will take place on Sunday evening (at 8:00 PM local time, 1:00 PM CEST). Without Pit-Boost and with three fewer laps, this second race will be under different circumstances. This could offer the French-American racing team the chance to convert the potential shown in Saturday’s race into tangible results this time.

Transparency note: This article was made possible with a production cost subsidy from DS Automobiles. DS had no editorial influence on the article.

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