The NEOM McLaren ABB FIA Formula E Team scored their debut ABB FIA Formula E race win in Sao Paulo on Saturday.
Sam Bird, started the race from sixth place and took victory and speaking following the action he said:
What an outstanding result for myself and for NEOM McLaren to get our first victory together. It’s particularly special doing it here in Brazil, home of Ayrton Senna and supported by Emerson Fittipaldi on the podium. This is a great reward for everyone who has worked so tirelessly with the team since the very beginning – I joined for NEOM McLaren’s second year and I’ve seen so much progress already.
“I couldn’t be prouder of every single person in the team. A big thank you to Nissan as well, our powertrain suppliers, for continuing to improve and providing us with the powertrain capable of doing what we did today. I’m looking forward to continuing to celebrate, and we’ll focus on Tokyo in a few weeks’ time.”
Jake Hughes retired from the race and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“We can take positives and negatives from this week in São Paulo. The biggest positive is Sam’s victory and it’s a credit to everyone in the team and all the hard work every single person has put in. Getting a victory so early in the season – we hoped to do this and it’s a credit to all the hard work behind the scenes during the off season.
“From my side, it was a difficult race. I had a very good start – I was up to P7 but got shuffled back trying to make a move and lost around four places. From there, it was a difficult race – we were in the middle of the pack where we couldn’t use the strength of our car. When we’re in the top five, we’re able to have a good race, but when we’re mid-pack it’s a bit more difficult. It’s a shame we had to DNF. We struggled with reliability, but we will re-group. We’ll look ahead to Tokyo and have the knowledge in the back of our mind that we have a strong car if we qualify well, which has to be our goal for the next race.
NEOM McLaren ABB FIA Formula E Team Principal Ian James said:
“What an unbelievable day for the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team! We’ve just witnessed an historic moment in the 61-year history of McLaren. The first ever fully-electric win for McLaren Racing, and I couldn’t be prouder of the team.
“Sam’s racing, the way he managed it together with the whole team, was absolutely on point – which proved to be crucial in such an incredibly tough race. I think it’s quite fitting that the person who brought McLaren Racing its first ever Constructors’ World Championship, Emerson Fittipaldi, was the one to wave Sam across the line with the chequered flag, here in São Paulo. So once again, a key moment for McLaren Racing; it’s onwards and upwards from here.
“It was a much tougher race for Jake. Having said that, one of the things we have said all along is that Jake has been part of this team from the beginning, and without his hard work and dedication, we wouldn’t have been celebrating the win here today. So, a huge thank you goes out to him as well. We understand what went wrong with his race, and I’m confident with him and the team behind him, we’ll find our way back.
“A huge, huge thank you and congratulations to our powertrain supplier Nissan. I couldn’t be prouder to see two Nissan-powered cars on the top steps today, so well done to Ollie, well done to the whole team. Finally, a shout-out to our Partners who have supported us throughout – we are looking forward to giving you some more podiums and wins in the future.”