Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans delivered a strategic drive to take victory in Berlin after the announcement of the end of a decade-long partnership. Reigning champion Oliver Rowland and Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein joined him on the podium.

Parc Femme spoke to Felipe Drugovich and Taylor Barnard about their race and their thoughts going into Monaco.

Andretti’s Felipe Drugovich started 7th on the grid, after showing promising pace earlier in qualifying by advancing to the duels. Despite dropping down the order initially, he managed to recover to ninth in a race dominated by energy saving strategies.

But how difficult is it for the drivers?

“Yeah it’s super difficult, you can plan every lap, every single corner is a different situation.” Drugovich told Parc Femme. “You need to stay in front but also not spend too much, it’s a very stressful race.”

“Mid-race was not looking good for us but we managed to come back to the end to grab some points.” He continued, “Even though the championship hasn’t been too nice for me, we need to be happy with this race. I don’t think there was much more to do there.”

DS Penske’s Taylor Barnard showed promising pace in qualifying, progressing to the final duel before losing out to Pascal Wehrlein. Despite taking the lead in the first corner, strategy demanded Barnard drop back to conserve energy.

With Attack mode lying far off the racing line, positions were significantly altered, with Barnard finishing 11th, outside the points. In a chaotic race where strategy is vital, how difficult is it to preserve energy?

“I think it’s been a general trend for us this year, qualifying is OK but race pace is a massive struggle.” Barnard said. “Especially when energy was so sensitive today and race pace was so sensitive. We seem to struggle, not just myself, but all of the Stellantis cars.”

“But I think the team have done an amazing job, especially with the strategy today. A step forward from yesterday.”

Looking forward to Monaco and the second half of the season.

Next up on the calendar is another double-header in Monaco, as the grid enters the half-way point of the season.

But what are their focus points going into these races?

“Definitely race pace and finally bringing home some points.” Barnard told us. “I think with the amount of points I have, it doesn’t reflect the hard work and the pace that we’ve shown which is very frustrating.”

“To be able to put it on the front row with the pace that we have and never convert that into a podium or points is extremely frustrating. So I think that’s gonna be our main focus for the rest of the season.”

Comparatively, Drugovich remains hopeful for the rest of the season. 

“More points for sure, more than more than two hopefully.” He continued,  “I mean it’s a tough situation to be in. We have the pace in qualifying but yeah very inefficient in most of the race. Hopefully next few ones we will get better on that.”