Hear from NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team drivers Cristina Gutiérrez, Mattias Ekström, and Sporting Director Gary Paffet after the Desert X-Prix.

Round 1

Saturday, 17 February

Qualifying 1 – Heat 1	10:58.047	P2
Qualifying 2 – Heat 2	11:13.008	P2
Grand Final		P2

“I’m feeling happy after today's race with the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team. It was my first race with the team and working with Mattias, and we managed to finish in P2. We were able to put together a good performance in Qualifying and get to the Grand Final. In the Final, Mattias did a great job at the start, which helped me when I took over.

“I was battling at the front during my laps, but finished in P2 in the end. It was a shame not to be able to bring home the win, but I think we will be competitive this season. The team are happy, and Mattias and I are really grateful for all the hard work and hours they are putting in. I am very happy to be with NEOM McLaren, and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”

“We had a very exciting first day and first race with the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team. Despite a few small issues in Qualifying 1, we still finished P2 – and we managed to fix these problems in time for Qualifying 2. In Q2, we were more competitive, and the Grand Final was one of the most exciting Finals I have seen in Extreme E. We had a great start and Turn 1, and I was able to give Cristina the car in P2. She did a really good job, battling at the front with Mikaela [Ahlin-Kottulinsky], but we finished just behind them in P2.

“It feels nice to be able to bring a trophy back to the team to reward all their hard work, and I’m looking forward to going again tomorrow for Round 2.”

“It’s been a great first day. Initially in Free Practice yesterday we were struggling a little, but the team did a lot of great work on the car overnight, and you could already see the benefit in Qualifying 1. We finished in P2, but we weren’t fully happy with our performance as we wanted some more speed to fight for P1. In Qualifying 2, we had a much better performance, finishing in P2 again which was enough to get us into the Grand Final.

“We got the last lane pick for the Final, so we weren’t on our preferred starting line, but Mattias did a great job to pull off such a great move at the start. We were initially in P1, and were battling for this position for the whole race, with both Mattias and Cristina doing a brilliant job. In the end, we finished a tenth of a second behind the Rosberg X Racing car, putting us in P2.

“It was a bit frustrating not to get the win, but it has been a good day and we’ve been really competitive. Bring on tomorrow!”

Round 2

Sunday, 18 February

Qualifying 1 – Heat 1	10:58.412	P3
Qualifying 2 – Heat 2	10:50.639	P2
Redemption Race		P1

“Today was a mixed day for the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team – we didn’t make it to the Grand Final, and had some issues being down on power, so we weren’t able to push as much as we wanted to. That meant we ended up in the Redemption Race. However, we ended up winning the race and scoring 12 points. Mattias drove really well, managing to make up two positions during his laps to help us take the win.

“Overall, considering Mattias and I are both new to NEOM McLaren, the whole team did really well over the whole week. We have some things to improve on before the next races, but I have full faith in the whole team – and we will continue to work hard during the break.”

“Our first weekend with the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team has come to an end. On one side, I am super happy that we were competitive – we were running at the front on Saturday and came close to the win. Today, we were still competitive but struggled with some power issues, so weren’t able to fight at the top as we would’ve liked.

“We ended up in the Redemption Race, which was a proper fight and we were able to get some key points in the bag. A huge thank you to the whole team, everyone put in a massive effort the whole week. We will come back stronger at the next event, and I am very happy and excited for the rest of the season with NEOM McLaren.”

“It was a challenging day. We had a small problem with the powertrain and we were down on power compared to some of the other cars out there. After both qualifying races, we ended up on equal qualifying points for fourth place. Due to not being quick enough in the Traction Challenge, we ended up in fifth place after qualifying.

“This meant we weren’t in the Grand Final, which was a massive shame as that is the aim for every single race. We were in the Redemption Race, and at that point it’s very important to win that race, which we did with just two waypoints to go.

“To win the Redemption Race and get 12 points was very important. Before the next round, we have a lot of work to do to understand where the performance needs to come from. Despite the results, we managed good damage limitation and came away from the weekend with a lot of positives – both drivers have driven incredibly. The team has also done really well, especially with the workload. We still need to find some performance, but generally speaking, it was a positive weekend.”

Championship Standings

NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team: P5 (30 points)

Go to the full team standings.