London, Saturday, 26 July

Hear from NEOM McLaren Formula E Team drivers Taylor Barnard and Sam Bird, and Team Principal Ian James after the first London E-Prix.

Free Practice 2	1:08.340	15th
Qualifying	1:09.300	14th
Race		13th

“Race one here in London finished, and it was a tough day at the office for everybody in the team. The pace was definitely not there today, so we have a lot of homework to do ahead of tomorrow, a lot to review and try and improve on for tomorrow.  

“Tomorrow is the last race for NEOM McLaren and my final race with this incredible group of people, so I really want to sign off this chapter with a strong result.”

Free Practice 2	1:07.975	10th
Qualifying	1:09.551	20th
Race		DNF

“That’s the first race here in London done and dusted. The result is a hard one to swallow after what I thought was a really strong race and a brilliant strategy from the team. To come away empty handed is very disappointing, as everyone has put in a lot of worktoday.  

“We’ve got another opportunity tomorrow, and I hope we can end our season on a high.”

“We’ve struggled to find the pace in the car needed to take the fight to the competition here at the London E-Prix. This translated to a poor qualifying which put us on the backfoot at a circuit at which it is notoriously difficult to overtake. 

“From our starting positions, significantly different strategies for Sam and Taylor were the only options to open up opportunities during the race. An incident early on scuppered the plans somewhat for Taylor, whereas Sam was able to keep to his strategy, using his track position to be the first to pit for his Pit Boost. This, coupled with an excellent drive, saw him running as high as P5 – some 15 places ahead of where he started. To his – and the Team’s – huge frustration, a puncture on the last lap forced him to drop out of the points.  

“Tomorrow will mark the last dance for the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team. Tonight, we hit the reset button, ready to give it our all – ending our journey on a high.”