In Season 11, Taylor Barnard impressed everyone in Formula E as he broke records as a rookie. Season 12 saw him join Maximillian Günther at DS Penske. His second year in the series was time to develop and grow from his rookie status. Ahead of the final round in London, The Girls Who – Motorsport caught up with him. We discussed his growth, his new team, and looked ahead. Here’s what he had to say.
Learning and Developing
Season 10 saw Barnard’s debut in Formula E as he joined the Neom McLaren Formula E Team to replace Sam Bird during his hand injury. A season later, he made his full-time debut. During his time with the Papaya team, he broke plenty of records as he became the youngest driver to achieve points, poles, and podiums.
When reflecting on his rookie season, Barnard mentioned the complexity of the series and how “there’s so many different things that you need to learn and improve on.“ Coming into this second year, he focused on bringing over everything he’d learnt but remained open to continuing his development.
“It was just a year of experience, a year of energy management, working with a massive group of engineers, trying to maximise my package. I think that’s what I’ve taken to my new team this season. There’s no secret or special thing which is going to make you faster.”
This season, Barnard believes his growth has been “more mentally, in terms of maturity as a driver”. He continued to explain how he’s learnt how “there’s more than just what you do as a job.” Being in a new team, DS Penske, has taught him that succeeding is more than what happens on track. Instead, it is more about “how you work with the team.”
“That’s definitely something I’ve learnt this year, with it being a new environment, a new group of people, and a tough season, that’s where you grow the most, in those kind of areas.”
DS Penske and the Challenges of Season 12
For the Briton, the biggest adjustment when switching teams came from the machinery itself. “Obviously the car is very different, the power train, the systems and the way you maximise your package is very different,” he explained. Barnard also went into detail over how the people were different, and he had to adjust to working with new colleagues. However, this has helped him progress in Season 12 and has gained a better understanding for.
“I think in this championship, and I guess in most top level motorsports, you get the most performance from your car by working well with your team. Towards the second half of this season I’ve definitely felt like I’ve maximised that area of racing.”
This year, Maximillian Günther was his teammate. The young driver also reflected on this partnership being great. “We get on well outside of the track. In the simulator, he shares all of the information, of course, me too when I’m the first one in the simulator.”
However, despite a positive relationship with Günther and working well with his new team, Barnard “thought we’d have a bit more success than we did” in Season 12. Inconsistent results created a challenging second season. Although, he wasn’t letting that affect him.
“This definitely hasn’t been my first tricky season of my career. I got a break last year, I was very lucky and fortunate to get in the right place at the right time. It’s come crashing down again a lot quicker than I would have hoped and expected. But it’s kind of just one of those seasons where you go in all areas as a driver, you take it on the chin and hope for a better one next season.”
A Home Race Win and Reflecting
Season 12’s final race was also a goodbye to the ExCel London. “A home crowd is always super awesome,” Barnard admitted as he went on to say doing a home race is “always a pleasure.”
For the final race of GEN3, the No. 77 driver was adamant that he would only consider a race win as a successful end to his season. And despite the odds, he achieved that. A strategic use of Attack Mode saw him get to the front and defend the position from Nyck de Vries. Taylor Barnard ends his second year as the youngest race winner in Formula E’s history.
But when it came to looking at his biggest learning point this year, Barnard feels as though it comes from the working environment.
“I don’t really think people understand how important it is working with your group of people. I certainly didn’t understand it until the start of this year. The amount that you can gain from maximising the relationships with your people, with your team and really understanding how everything ticks is worth a lot, at least in my situation. I would say that has to be the biggest lessons and learnings from this year.”
This year with DS Penske has taught him how to optimise working with his team. Next year, he joins Dan Ticktum at Fortescue Zero Racing. He’ll be looking to take all he’s learnt in the past two years to continue his development into the GEN4 era.