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

Round 3

Saturday, 13 July

*The team was handed a 10-second time penalty for dropping a waypoint flag.

The NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team car stopped on track during the Redemption Race after suffering from an electrical issue. Debris from the course hit one of the car’s external kill switches, which cut the power.

This was an unfortunate case of bad luck, and something which could not be avoided by the team or Mattias, who was driving at the time.

“Today was not an easy day. We had some back luck in both Qualifying sessions – this will be an area of focus for us tomorrow to get to the Grand Final. Today hasn’t been an easy day for the whole team, as we made a lot of effort to do our best, but luck wasn’t on our side.

“We had a difficult time in the Redemption Race, where some course debris hit the kill switch on the car. The fire extinguisher went off and we didn’t manage to finish. Even though we had bad luck today, tomorrow is a new day and we’re going to give it everything to get to the Grand Final and secure a good result for NEOM McLaren.”

“It’s been a difficult day here in Scotland. Around the course, the pace was there but we had some bad luck. We stopped at the first corner of the Redemption Race due to some debris hitting the kill switch. Today is one to forget, and we’ll be fully focused on tomorrow.”

“It’s been a very frustrating day. On Friday, the car was fast and we were looking competitive. Today, in the first Qualifying Heat, we made slight contact with another car and picked up a puncture. It was a slow puncture, so we didn’t realise at first. Cristina drove incredibly well to finish the race and stay where she did. However, we also picked up a penalty as we hit a waypoint flag, and finished third in that session.

“In the second Qualifying Heat, we didn’t get a great start. We lost some time coming out of the switch zone and hit another waypoint flag, meaning we finished fourth and didn’t get through to the Grand Final.

“We started in the Redemption Race and we were confident that we had a good chance of being competitive here. However, coming out of the first turn, we were hit by some rocks which activated the kill switch cord and cut the power from the car. The car stopped straightaway, which was very disappointing as the pace was there.

“We’re now switching our focus towards tomorrow and hopefully having a better day.”

Round 4

Sunday, 14 July

*The team was handed two 10-second penalties for dropping waypoint flags.

**The team was handed a 10-second penalty for dropping a waypoint flag.

“This was not the best weekend for us, but it was good to finish it with a P1 in the Redemption Race, and took some important points. The team have worked so hard this weekend to give us the best car possible and we are getting closer as we spend more time together. We will give everything for the next race in Sardinia in a few months’ time where hopefully we can secure that first win.”

“It’s been a challenging weekend for us in Scotland. We struggled to get into the flow on Friday, making some small mistakes here and there. We’ve had some strong moments too, but we were lacking what it took to make it into the Grand Final and fight for the win.

“To win the Redemption Race today meant that we brought home some good points. We now need to learn from this event and come back stronger in Sardinia.”

“That marks the end of our week here in Scotland. We wanted to try and have a better result than Saturday; it couldn’t have got a lot worse. This morning, we didn’t have very strong Qualifying heats; the pace of the car was good, but we had a couple of dropped waypoint flags, which meant we got penalties. This meant we didn’t score enough Qualifying points to make it through to the Grand Final.

“We ended up in the Redemption Race. That race went really well, and we executed it perfectly. Cristina started the race, finishing her stint in P3. Mattias brought the car home and finished the job, finishing in P1.

“It was a great way to finish, but not what we wanted at the start of the day as we aim for the Grand Final every time. We now need to build on what we learnt today going into Sardinia in a few months’ time to be in a strong position from the beginning.”

Championship Standings

NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team: P5 (46 points)

Go to the full team standings.