NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard secured his first Julius Baer Pole Position in Formula E, becoming the youngest-ever pole sitter in the championship’s 11 year history. The young British rookie has had a brilliant Jeddah weekend so far, after earning himself his second podium of the season yesterday and now pole for today’s race.
RESULTS: The full classification of qualifying ahead of the Jeddah E-Prix Round 4
Barnard took on his former mentor Oliver Rowland (Nissan) in the Final of the Duels, but beat him comfortably by over four tenths with a brilliant lap. It’s another record for 20-year-old Barnard, beating the previous record for youngest pole sitter which was set by Daniel Abt at the 2015 Long Beach E-Prix when he was aged 22 years and four months.
The session was filled with big shocks and surprises, with no Jaguar TCS Racing cars getting through to the Duels and only Antonio Felix da Costa getting his TAG Heuer Porsche-powered car into the final eight.
Instead, it was a great session for Nissan power who locked out the front row with their works team and customer McLaren, as well as Maserati MSG Racing who will see both their drivers – Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Hughes – line up on the second row of the grid.
Final
It was an encounter of master versus student in the last Duel, with Oliver Rowland taking on his former karting mentee Taylor Barnard for the pole position. It was an insane performance from the 20-year-old, who beat Rowland for pole by over four tenths to become the youngest-ever pole sitter in Formula E history.
Semi Finals
The Maserati MSG Racing of Stoffel Vandoorne went up against Oliver Rowland, with the Nissan of Rowland going ahead and into the Finals. Vandoorne’s new teammate, Jake Hughes, also didn’t make it through to the Final after going up against his former NEOM McLaren colleague Taylor Barnard.
Quarter Finals
Round 3’s top two race finishers, Oliver Rowland and Maximilian Guenther, battled each other in the first Quarter Final but this time it was Rowland who was the better and progressed into the Semis.
Then it was the turn of Sam Bird and Stoffel Vandoorne, with the Maserati MSG driver getting the quicker lap to achieve a guaranteed best qualifying result of the season so far.
Edoardo Mortara and Jake Hughes were separated by just 0.008s in one of the closest Duels we’ve had in the GEN3 Evo era, but it was Hughes and his Maserati MSG Racing who got the best time of the two.
The final Quarter Final was Antonio Felix da Costa and Taylor Barnard, with the 20-year-old Barnard getting the better of the Season 6 Formula E champion to secure a spot in the Semis.
Group A
Vandoorne had a fantastic lap of 1m17.020s to go quickest of his group, with Rowland just behind in second and into the Duels for a fourth consecutive race in Season 11. Yesterday’s race winner Guenther was third, with Sam Bird putting in a fantastic lap to secure the final slot in the Duels in his group.
Both the CUPRA KIROs of Dan Ticktum and David Beckmann finished in fifth and sixth, with yesterday’s front row starter Pascal Wehrlein down in seventh in a shock move. The reigning champion didn’t improve on his final lap, and was joined further down the starting grid by both Jaguar TCS Racing cars of Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy who finished in eighth and ninth respectively.
Group B
As the track evolution improved, so did the times with Taylor Barnard top with a 1m16.922s for NEOM McLaren. Jake Hughes made back-to-back Duels to join his teammate in the next stage of qualifying, with Mortara managing to finish third behind him. It was a welcomed result for the team after the Swiss-Italian started from the back of the grid on Friday with a technical issue.
Antonio Felix da Costa didn’t improve on his final lap and stayed fourth – the only Porsche-powered car to make it into the Duels.
SCHEDULE: Where, when and how to watch or stream the 2025 Jeddah E-Prix Round 4
Race: Saturday 15 February, 20:05 local/17:05 UTC
View the full schedule in your time zone and check the broadcaster listings or tap the Ways to Watch button above to find out where to watch all the racing action where you live.
Follow the race LIVE and listen to full race commentary on web and in the Formula E app!
Follow all the action on-track as it happens in the Race Centre.
Keep across Live Timing – which includes a real-time interactive track map and the ability to follow your favourite driver during every session of every E-Prix – plus highlights, detailed session reports, exclusive interviews, all the standings and results as well as data, insight and reaction from trackside.
LIVE: Follow every lap live, with reaction and coverage at fiaformulae.com/live
Additionally, Formula E’s social media channels, website, and app will provide session reports, exclusive interviews, and behind-the-scenes insights from trackside during the four-day event.
Find out more
CALENDAR: Sync the dates and don't miss a lap of Season 11
FOLLOW: Download the Formula E App on iOS or Android
WATCH: Find out where to watch every Formula E race via stream or on TV in your country
SCHEDULE: Here's every race of the 2024/25 Formula E season
HIGHLIGHTS: Catch up with every race from all 10 seasons of Formula E IN FULL
PREDICTOR: Get involved, predict race results and win exclusive prizes