Maximilian Günther produced a virtuoso performance to tally his seventh career triumph in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Shanghai today (31 May), as an inspired final lap charge by team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne secured DS Penske’s first-ever one-two finish.

Günther had already laid down a marker in the vibrant Asian metropolis by qualifying on pole position. The last time he had done that – in Jeddah back in February – he converted it into victory; three-and-a-half months later, he did it again.

As drivers jostled for position during the opening phases of the race, the German was a consistent contender inside the top five, leading on several occasions before diving into the pit-lane from fourth place on lap 13 for his Pit Boost rapid recharge.

Günther subsequently deployed his first Attack Mode to make up ground, and exploited his extra energy to slice past championship leader Oliver Rowland (Nissan Formula E Team) shortly after the Briton exited the pits following his own stop four laps later.

By the time all the Pit Boosts had been completed, the Oberstdorf native was at the front of the field, and he reinforced that advantage by activating his remaining Attack Mode on lap 23, fleetingly dropping to fourth before swiftly reasserting his supremacy. Heading onto lap 26, Günther swept by Rowland once more to reclaim the initiative, going on to take the chequered flag over seven seconds clear of his closest pursuer.

Astonishingly, that closest pursuer was neither Rowland, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team’s Pascal Wehrlein or NEOM McLaren Formula E Team’s Taylor Barnard – all of whom had looked to be in the mix for glory at various stages during the E-Prix – but indeed Vergne, as the Frenchman came from next-to-nowhere to steal second place on the very last lap.

After climbing to fifth courtesy of an intelligent Attack Mode strategy, Formula E’s lone two-time champion displaced Rowland from fourth before opportunistically snatching the runner-up spoils by sneaking past both Barnard and CUPRA KIRO’s Dan Ticktum as the pair battled into the final chicane.

Ticktum had thought the position was his, having scythed magnificently through the field from the very back row of the grid, only to get shuffled out by his two rivals and ultimately fall short of a second consecutive podium finish in the all-electric single-seater series by less than 0.4s.

A day ahead of his 21st birthday, Barnard narrowly pipped his countryman to the flag to reach the rostrum for the fifth time in ten starts in his maiden full campaign in the championship. Fellow Brit Rowland slipped to fifth in the closing stages, just ahead of Nissan partner Norman Nato – although with neither Wehrlein nor Porsche stablemate António Félix da Costa managing to score, the Yorkshireman has further extended his margin at the top of the title table from 77 points to 86, with Barnard now up to second.

The top ten finishers were completed by McLaren’s Sam Bird, Season 8 champion Nyck de Vries (Mahindra Racing) – the Dutchman a long-time leader during the opening half of the E-Prix – and Envision Racing pairing Sébastien Buemi and Robin Frijns, both of whom climbed the order into the points from the tail-end of the grid.

Round 11 of the 2024/25 Formula E campaign will begin at 15:05 local time (09:05 CEST) tomorrow, Sunday, 1 June.

Maximilian Guenther, No. 7, DS PENSKE, said: 

“Amazing! A 1-2 for the team, I’m so happy. A real masterclass this race, I think the strategy, the pace, the execution, the moves - everything was nice. I knew when I put the overlap on Oli [Rowland] and had more energy, I just had to go and get my head down and try to be secure, which we managed. I’m extremely happy. It means a lot, especially after these last few weeks when momentum was not on our side. This weekend we certainly got it back! It’s been a lot of hard work and I’m very happy for the team.”

Jean-Éric Vergne, No. 25, DS PENSKE said:

“What a race! It’s been a rollercoaster. I left a little bit of my front wing in the last corner, I think a bit of my wrist as well - I was suffering the whole race, I really hurt it. Honestly I don’t know, I just went for it - I think we did the right call keeping the ATTACK MODE quite late. Everybody was attacking a lot and I thought that since everyone was doing that I should save a bit more energy and try to use it towards the end, and it paid off quite nicely.”

Taylor Barnard, No. 5, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team said:

“Honestly, my main emotion is that I’m a bit confused! I was sitting at the back for a very long time; I was quite good on energy but I didn’t understand how the race was playing out. The team did a great job with the strategy because I came out of the pit lane in sixth so I thought, ‘now I can fight!’, but I need to look at the race after to understand a little bit better what’s actually happened. I was really struggling with energy on the last couple of laps so I did my best in the last few corners. I’m super happy to get another podium, another 15 points in the bag.”