Riyadh Street Circuit, Saturday 28 January

Hear from NEOM McLaren Formula E Team drivers René Rast and Jake Hughes, and Team Principal Ian James after the second Diriyah E-Prix.

Free Practice 3	6th (1m09.554s)
Qualifying	3rd (1m08.922s)
Race	3rd

"What a fantastic day! It wasn’t an easy race, however I did lead some laps, which was pretty cool! I had to manage quite a bit of my energy during the race, which was tricky. I knew the other drivers around me had more energy, and at the end I was battling with Sam [Bird], who had more energy than me. It was a fight until the very last corner. I’m very happy, especially compared to where I was in Mexico, where I didn’t finish with any points. We can be very proud of what the team has achieved this week, especially today with pole position and the podium. We’re still learning and hopefully we can apply that to Hyderabad."

Free Practice 3	8th (1m09.586s)
Qualifying	1st (1m08.693s)
Race	5th

"It’s been a really good day, securing pole position in my third race with the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team! Yesterday, I didn’t think we quite had what it took in the qualifying duels and we managed to get P2, and then pole today. Super happy. Going into the race, we had the expectation that we wouldn’t be racing the Porsche cars, and our goal was, on a good day, to be fighting the Jaguars. In the end, both NEOM McLaren cars finished in front of a Jaguar car. I can’t wait to head to Hyderabad in a few weeks!"

IAN JAMES, Team Principal

"That was absolutely phenomenal. What a weekend - and especially a day - it has been.

"Today we had both cars showing great one-lap pace in the practice session and qualifying. So much so, that Jake clinched the very first pole position for NEOM McLaren in Formula E. Simply outstanding, both from him and the whole team for delivering a car that is capable of this performance. René did a great job too and put his car on P3 on the grid.

"From there we were in a great position to perform well in the race. It was always going to be a tough fight, especially having seen the pace of some of our competitors in Mexico City, and here, earlier on in the weekend. The start may not have gone exactly as Jake would have hoped for, but he held on well. René got away well and was constantly in the fight for a podium finish. The race ended in dramatic fashion, but both our drivers were absolutely excellent in extracting the best out of the package, resulting in the first podium for NEOM McLaren in FE, as well as the first podium for our powertrain supplier, Nissan, in Gen3 with René.

"It was a very positive day in the office today. Achieving what we achieved at the home race of our title partner makes it all the more special. This is a great start to the season, thanks to all the blood, sweat and tears the team put in day in, day out. This one is for them!"

Standings after Round 3

	NEOM McLaren Formula E Team	3rd (53 points)
	Jake Hughes	5th (27 points)
	René Rast	6th (16 points)

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