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 lead trio of eventual winner Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing), who qualified welll in third and climbed by Robin Frijns in the Jaguar-powered Envision Racing and polesitter Oliver Rowland in the Nissan on his way to the win, did bolt clear of Hughes, though the NEOM McLaren driver was best of the rest, and finished just a second back from the podium three - in the midst of an ultra-congested top 10 split by about 10 seconds at the 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.
“I had good pace today and was able to manage my energy well. As a team, we showed a really strong ATTACK MODE strategy. Even if it’s not a trophy just yet, I’m feeling happy and I’m looking forward to racing in Brazil in March.”
Roles reveresed, but a solid weekend says Team Principal Ian James
“That’s a wrap on the second of our two home races here in Diriyah," said James. "There was almost a complete reversal of yesterday’s fortunes with Jake coming home in a very solid P4, with a superb drive from him. Sam (Bird) showed good pace and energy management too, but unfortunately didn’t finish due to hitting the wall and damaging the car while running in a points position.
READ MORE: Cassidy on his maiden Jaguar win
“Overall, I think it has been a solid weekend here for the team, and we have shown that we have pace and have actually taken a significant step forward in terms of our energy management compared to last season. That gives us cause for optimism as we head into the next race out in São Paulo. We now have some time to re-group and understand how we can extract even more performance from the package we have got.
“Great to see our powertrain supplier Nissan on the podium with Oliver - congrats to them. We're looking forward to sharing more success together.”