Jake Hughes (NEOM McLaren) matched his teammate’s result from Round 2 to cross the line in fourth – a career best – at the site of his maiden pole in Formula E.
HIGHLIGHTS: The 2024 Diriyah E-Prix Round 3
The leading trio of eventual winner Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing), who qualified well in third place and edged Robin Frijns in the Jaguar-powered Envision Racing and pole-sitter Oliver Rowland in the Nissan en route to victory, overtook Hughes. The NEOM McLaren driver was the most productive of the rest and finished just one second off the third podium, amid a crowded top 10 split into about 10 moments at the chequered flag.
“I’m buzzing after that race, my best finish in Formula E so far,” said Hughes. “It’s a track I really enjoy driving at, and after Sam’s (Bird) P4 finish yesterday, I was really happy to back that up. The whole team did a fantastic job this weekend too. As always, there are parts that you think could’ve gone your way a bit more, which was the race yesterday for me.
“Today I had smart speed and was able to manage my power well. As a team, we demonstrated a very solid ATTACK MODE strategy. Although it’s not a trophy yet, I feel satisfied and can’t wait to race in Brazil in March. »
“This is the end of the moment of our two home races here in Diriyah,” James said. “There’s an almost complete reversal from yesterday’s luck with Jake coming home in a very forged P4, with some very clever driving on his part. Sam (Bird) also showed clever speed and power management, but unfortunately it didn’t finish due to a collision with the wall and damage to the car while racing for the points.
READ MORE: Cassidy on first Jaguar win
“Overall, I think it’s been a fantastic weekend here for the team, and we’ve shown that we have speed and in fact we’ve made a significant step forward in terms of managing our power compared to last season. This explains why we should be positive ahead of the next race in São Paulo. Now we have some time to regroup and figure out how we can get even more functionality out of the package we have.
“It’s wonderful to see our powertrain supplier Nissan on the podium with Oliver. Kudos to them. We look forward to sharing more good fortune together. “