Jake Hughes has echoed the thoughts of the entire Formula E paddock at the Diriyah E-Prix, with everyone recognising that it’s “going to be such a hard track to overtake”.
It was a similar scenario two weeks ago in the Mexico City season-opener, with qualifying having played a massive part in determining who finished the race in the top 10. The expectations are that qualifying will be just as crucial at the Diriyah Street Circuit, where Hughes believes there’s only “one overtaking corner”.
This isn’t a bad thing necessarily for Hughes, as 12 months ago he demonstrated his raw pace and bravery to get close to the walls. Diriyah was only his second E-Prix of his career, yet he progressed to the final in qualifying ahead of both races.
It was for the second race of the double-header where he secured his first ever pole position, something he’s “going to try” and replicate.
“We’re certainly going to try, obviously,” Hughes told Motorsport Week in Diriyah.
“I think one year on from last year, and you saw it sort of, especially in the second half of last year, that everyone sort of started to understand their packages and you sort of saw a general, whole hierarchy, I would say, of like, on average, who’s performing the best. And I think it’s fair to say that some teams caught up from what we had at the start of last season.
“I think we did a very good job at the start of Season 9 of extracting the maximum out of our package earlier than potentially some of the other teams did, which enabled us to get a few poles. And, yeah, René [Rast] got his podium here. So it is definitely a strong track for us, and I’m expecting us to be fighting for minimum points.
“Whether we can get anything more, I think will determine a lot on the competition.”
Whilst the two races this weekend are a different number of laps, Hughes still expects qualifying to ultimately have a big say in the outcome of both races. McLaren are expecting the start of both races to be “busy”, before it quieten downs in the latter stages.
“Both, I think, with a track like this, actually, where you qualify will determine how good you look in race pace, really,” said Hughes. “It’s going to be such a hard track to overtake. We only have one overtaking corner, really. The energy sensitivity doesn’t look super sensitive.
“So we’re expecting a busy first 10 or 15 laps, maybe not a busy second half of the race, but if you’re starting towards the back, your energy is going to look a lot worse than it is starting at the front. So qualifying will dictate both, really.”
As mentioned, Hughes is a bit of a star around the Diriyah circuit, with him having a 100 per cent record in making the final. It’s a track he enjoys as he likes “street tracks in general”. Whilst this weekend’s venue is actually purpose-built, it has all the traits of a typical street circuit.
“I like street tracks in general. I’ve always felt like I’ve gone well at street tracks,” he added. “I’ve driven Macau, I’ve driven Monaco, Pau, Norisring. I think I’ve got pole position in all of them, actually. And it’s just something. Well, this track, first of all, is definitely a street track.
“Even if it’s not on an actual road or street per se. It’s definitely street track-orientated and it’s sort of that risk versus reward. It’s kind of like, how much do you push early on in the weekend? Do you push too hard and end up in the wall and lose a bit of confidence? Do you build up slower?
“But by the time qualifying comes around you’re not in the rhythm enough and you’re always balancing that or you’re always playing with that balancing act. And for me, I’ve always felt like a track where I can place the car. Like, I like to have a strong front end with a car, I don’t really like understeer.
“And with a track like this, with a lot of left and right corners, the car setup dictates that you have a strong front and potentially that’s something that aids me.”
