It’s been a busy few weeks for NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard. He was forced to make his Formula E debut after Sam Bird broke his hand in a practice crash in Monaco. Now, in just his second race, he managed to make his way into the championship points after a crazy race in Berlin - the championship's youngest-ever points-scorer.
"That was crazy, chaotic, all of those kinds of words,” the 19-year-old stated after the race. “I missed a little bit of experience. I think I definitely could have done a bit better than that today. I think it sounds a bit silly of me being disappointed with a point.
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“Everybody on the grid says ‘I could have done this better’ or ‘I could have done that better’, but me being myself, I would have liked it done a little bit better. I made a few mistakes. Still the pace that we had in qualifying is not bad. So I will learn from the mistakes that I made today. Maybe we can do some more things on the car for tomorrow, and can I get some more points!”
Barnard started in 13th position, and marked himself as the highest-qualifying Nissan powertrain of the four. His papaya teammate Jake Hughes started in 17th, with Oliver Rowland (Nissan) in 15th and Sacha Fenestraz in 16th.
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On full debut, the Brit did his best to keep his car out of the firing line, though was required to make a pit stop to rectify a puncture. With the pack running so tightly together for the majority of the race contact was almost inevitable during the wild 46 lap race around the Templehof Airport Street Circuit but in spite of the stop, Barnard had the pace and poise to finish in the top 10. The rough tarmac and slightly wider track was a world away from the tight and twisty challenge he faced two weeks ago in Monaco.
“There is no preference,” the young NEOM McLaren driver said when asked if he liked the Monte Carlo or the German circuit more. “I love both. Actually at one of the laps, I was like, ‘oh my god, this is so much fun’. It was lap 10 or something and obviously then it started getting a lot more crazy in the middle of the race! That was when I didn't even have time to think about it, I just had to do it. I really enjoyed the race. A few mistakes, like I said, but yeah, we're working on it for tomorrow.”
SCHEDULE: Where, when and how to watch or stream the 2024 SUN MINIMEAL Berlin E-Prix
Sunday’s action starts with Free Practice 3 at 08:00, followed by Round 10 qualifying and race at 10:20 and 15:00 local time respectively.