- The Shanghai circuit in China hosts rounds 12 and 13 of Season 12 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship this weekend
- Thanks to a ninth place for Maximilian Günther, DS Automobiles once again scored points in both the drivers’ and teams’ championships
- Sunday’s race – brought forward by three hours due to the risk of inclement weather (new start time 06:00 CET) – will be the 150th start for DS Automobiles in Formula E
Just two weeks after Sanya, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is back in China this weekend for the 12th and 13th races of the season. It’s a complete change of scene though: unlike the narrow streets of Sanya, the Shanghai International Circuit is a permanent venue that also hosts Formula 1 (in a longer configuration). As a result, the FE drivers are competing on a very wide track this weekend, with one race on Saturday and another on Sunday.
Menacing weather forecasts prompted the organisers to bring the entire schedule forward by three hours in order to avoid the heavy rain expected in the afternoon. Maximilian Günther, the polesitter and winner in Shanghai last year, handled a very early wake-up call well – setting fifth-fastest time in free practice, held at the unprecedented hour of 06:00 local time – before claiming fourth in qualifying. With his young teammate Taylor Barnard 10th on the grid, the DS E-TENSE FE25 confirmed its strong pace on the 3.051-kilometre Chinese circuit.
The beginning of the race held mixed fortunes for the two DS Automobiles drivers. Maximilian Günther briefly ran in an action-packed third place, while Taylor Barnard suffered a puncture following contact with another car, and was forced to pit.
As is the case at all double-headers, which host two races during one weekend, the drivers and teams benefit from PIT BOOST: a rapid recharge that allows them to recover an additional 10% of energy for the second part of the race.
In Shanghai, the pit window for these brief stops coincided with the arrival of heavy rain: but only on one part of the circuit. As a result, Race Control deployed the Safety Car.
This didn’t favour Maximilian Günther, who found himself 12th once the race restarted. The German nonetheless had a strong run to the finish to claim the points for ninth, on a track made extremely slippery by the rain. His teammate Taylor Barnard eventually finished 16th after restarting from last following his puncture.
The two DS Automobiles drivers along with partner PENSKE AUTOSPORT will be looking to take their revenge on Sunday, with the race once again brought forward to 12:00 midday local time (06:00 CET) due to the weather forecast.
Tomorrow’s 13th round of ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Season 12 will have a noteworthy significance for DS Automobiles, as the French premium brand from the Stellantis group makes its 150th Formula E start on Sunday.
More rain is expected but Maximilian Günther and Taylor Barnard will be determined to add to the marque’s record, which currently stands at 18 victories, 55 podiums and 26 pole positions. A strong result could also mean that DS Automobiles passes the symbolic threshold of 2000 points scored in the championship.
Maximilian Günther:
“Overall, it was a good day for us. From Free Practice 2, we showed good pace with a top five result that we confirmed in qualifying with a strong fourth place. Thanks to the good work carried out with the team, our DS E-TENSE FE25 was working very well and gave me confidence. I found a very good feeling again in the race, both at the start when the track was dry and also at the end on a damp surface. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of places during the PIT BOOST window, but I don’t know really know why at the moment. So this is something we will have to analyse. Nonetheless, after finding myself in 12th place, I was once again able to show some very good pace. I managed the Attack Mode well and could climb back to ninth position and score a few points. So I think there are a lot of positives to take away from this race and I’m looking forward to tomorrow to confirm that once more!”
Taylor Barnard:
“This first race here in Shanghai obviously didn’t bring us the result we were hoping for. At the start of the race, I was very calm and I thought that I’d actually saved my energy pretty well over the first four or five laps. Unfortunately, I then had a very small contact that had big consequences, as I picked up a puncture and had to come into the pits to change the tyre. It was really unlucky. Still, we managed to capture some important data from this race and we’re going to go through it all thoroughly to try and score some big points tomorrow.”
Key figures since DS Automobiles entered Formula E:
- 149 races
- 4 championship titles
- 18 victories
- 55 podiums
- 26 pole positions
PRESS CONTACTS
DS Performance : Nathalie Dumas +33 (0) 6 60 26 10 37 –nathalie.dumas@external.stellantis.com
DS Automobiles : Benjamin Maigre + 33 (0) 6 75 58 80 41 – benjamin.maigre@dsautomobiles.com
