Maximilian Günther storms to victory at 2025 Jeddah E-Prix
Maximilian Günther secures first win of the 2024/25 Formula E season by taking victory in Jeddah
Maximilian Günther stormed to his first win of the 2024/25 FIA Formula E World Championship season at the Jeddah E-Prix, with the German racer clinching an emphatic victory with a final lap overtake on the shoreline of the Red Sea.
Alongside marking Formula E’s inaugural race in Jeddah, the weekend saw several firsts for the series, including the official debut of Pit Boost – a mandatory 30-second 600kW energy boost – in Race 1.
Upon taking to the track in practice, Max showed consistent pace and capitalised on his speed in Qualifying to progress to the Final stage of the session after defeating Nyck De Vries and Taylor Barnard in the duel stages.
In the Final, Max faced reigning World Champion Pascal Wehrlein and by outpacing the Porsche driver, secured the third pole position of his Formula E career.
The 27-year-old took advantage of his front-row starting spot by snatching the lead as soon as Race 1 got underway and led the opening third of the race before surrendering first place to Oliver Rowland in a strategic move to conserve energy.
After settling into a consistent rhythm, Max boxed from second on lap 17 to take Pit Boost but rejoined the race in a net 12th position after losing time in the pit lane and during his out lap.
Despite this setback, Max dug in deep and used Attack Mode battle through the field and move back into the podium positions by overtaking Jake Hughes on lap 22 of 31 before clearing De Vries for second.
Holding an energy advantage over Rowland, who continued to lead, Max chased down the Nissan driver in the closing laps, staging feint after feint before lunging around the outside and overtaking Briton in the final corners of the last lap to seal victory.
By also setting the Fastest Lap, Max secured the highest available points haul in Race 1 and resumed his efforts for Race 2 by picking up where he left off – setting the fastest time in the final practice session of the weekend.
In Qualifying for the next round, Max continued to show form and again progressed to the duels from Group A to this time start from sixth. Unfortunately, contact on lap one with Antonio Felix da Costa forced him to retire from Race 2.
Courtesy of his victory at the Jeddah E-Prix, Max holds fourth in the Formula E World Drivers’ Championship standings with 37 points, with his DS PENSKE team also holding fourth in the Teams’ Standings. His season will resume on 12 April with the 2025 Miami E-Prix.
Maximilian Günther, Driver, DS PENSKE
“Looking at everything as a whole, it’s been a very positive weekend for us. We’ve shown a lot of performance throughout both days. And yesterday was a dream while today we were very solid once more. I set the quickest time in free practice and got through to the final phase of qualifying. Starting from the third row of the grid, I had hoped to battle for a podium at least. Then the third corner happened; I tried to get alongside another car and locked my front wheels under braking. I wanted to slow down but it was too late – I was just a passenger. There was some contact, and the damage meant that it was the end of my race. That’s a real shame and I’m sorry about what happened. Now we have to turn the page and focus on what comes next. The most important thing is that the team is competitive and that we are working well together. We’ve proved that throughout the weekend and I’m looking forward to continuing to demonstrate that in the races to come.”
Free Practice 2: P2
Qualifying 1: P1 [1:14.911, Final]
Race 1: P1
Free Practice 3: P1
Qualifying 2: P6 [1:15.402, Quarter-Final One]
Race 2: DNF
Championship Position: P4 [36 points]