Season 12 is approaching fast and DS Penske is preparing for the season ahead. With some changes in qualifying, updated rules, and a new lineup. Are they up for the challenge ahead? 

In an interview with The Girls Who – Motorsport, their drivers, Maximilian Günther and Taylor Barnard, shared what they learnt from last season and how they plan to master this season moving forward.

Günther on Teammates

Günther, who enters his eighth season in Formula E, returns for another year with the team. Previously he was teammates with two-time Formula E world champion Jean-Éric Vergne. Whom he enjoyed working with. The German commented, “Obviously the one-two [in Shanghai] was very special and significant for the whole team, and I am wishing him now all the best in his new chapter [at Citroën Racing].“

Now he is looking forward to working with his new teammate for the season, Taylor Barnard.

Günther thinks of the young British driver as a “big talent” who really proved himself in his rookie season last year. It remains to be seen if the success follows the new team member; this could mean that Barnard would take Günther’s record of the youngest race winner in the series.

Is Barnard Settling In?

For Barnard, the testing in Valencia was the first chance to drive the car “properly” with a full race setup. Before that, he had already completed many simulator sessions to prepare for the new car. The Brit agrees that he and his teammate have the same working style, and additionally, both know what they want from the car. Barnard added that the real test will still be the first race of the season. 

Furthermore, Barnard highlighted that it is really hard to pinpoint one big improvement. He thinks, “Formula E is very complex and requires adapting to many things.”

He continued, “I wouldn’t say there’s really one thing that I’ve gotten better at. It’s just my experience across all of them in qualifying, in the race, how I’m working with the engineers, even in the free practice to get the package in the best position possible… I think all of those three things put together have made me a better and more experienced driver. So, coming into this season, of course. I’m now more complete.”

The More Experienced Driver

For the first time in his Formula E career, Günther is the more experienced driver. Last year, he was the new one coming into the team. Now he has already established a good working relationship with his engineer and the team, something he is looking forward to building on.

“This relationship is very important,” he highlighted. “I think in racing, a lot is based on trust and blind understanding of each other. And this is certainly a relationship that I’ve been building with the team, with my race engineer, and with my sort of engineering crew around me.”

The first big challenge will be São Paulo, he acknowledged, “Anhembi Sambadrome Circuit is a track where you’ve got different demands than many other circuits. A lot of bumps, very hard braking, many traction zones and a lot of energy saving in the race.”

But based on his performance last season, where he finished tenth in the Drivers’ Standing, the DS Penske driver feels prepared.

DNFs and Consistency

Last season, Günther had a mixed season with two wins, being in the points and outside the points. He also had six DNFs, all technical-related or on-track incidents.

On the technical DNF’s he commented, “I think reliability is a big topic for us from last season. Hopefully, we will be able to solve that this season. If you remove those technical failures, we would’ve been in a very different position in the championship, like Top 5 or Top 4.“

When it comes to staying out of trouble this season, Günther responded that he will “always aim to be out of trouble” as it’s easy in chaotic races to have a negative impact if you’re positioned wrongly. He explained, “This is always something that you’re looking at as a driver: how you can manoeuvre yourself better through certain race situations.”

Even in his eighth season, the German driver is still working to be a better and more complete driver.

Attack Mode and Qualifying Changes

Barnard thinks the Formula E rule change will not change a lot. The “no penalty if you don’t finish the whole Attack Mode” makes sense to him. The group phase of qualifying being shorter only limits the flexibility of the engineers; teams will most likely use similar run plans.

The biggest changes will be in the PIT BOOST race, where Attack mode will be a fixed six minutes. He thinks that affects those races more. Günter agreed that he thinks the rules won’t change racing massively, and luck will still play a part. 

PIT BOOST

Both Günther and Barnard like the PIT BOOST. For Günther, both his race wins were in PIT BOOST races. He feels like the races are faster and have fewer “peloton”-style races because of the less energy-saving. It also rewards good teamwork.

He thinks, “For the show, it’s great. It’s exciting. I think it’s important for the people back home to make the overview as good as we can to show on TV who has had the pit stop, who didn’t and the different groups sort of in the race, because I feel this should be priority number one to transfer to everyone.”

Barnard expected more chaos; instead, the format mainly changed the dynamics of the race. Both drivers are curious how having the fixed six minutes of Attack Mode plays out in the PitBoost races and are looking forward to Jeddah. 

With experience on one side of the garage and rising talent on the other, DS Penske enters Season 12 with a mix of stability and fresh ambition. The team knows that the reliability must improve and that strategy will be key. But as both drivers suggest, through trust, preparation, and a “more complete” approach, they feel ready to take on whatever the new season brings.