Jake Hughes’ move from NEOM McLaren to Maserati MSG caught many by surprise in 2024 but despite a false start in Sao Paulo after a clash with Nico Mueller, Hughes feels like a driver who is now fully embedded in the blue and copper of the Italian/Monegasque team.
Hughes knew some of the team through his season as a reserve and development driver with Venturi in 2020-21 but he still had to assimilate to lots that was knew with Stellantis brand Maserati.
Testing was scant for Hughes due to the limit that is held with registered manufacturer DS Automobiles so an emphasis on simulator work had to be relied upon from September to December in addition to the days in Jarama.
After the disappointment of Sao Paulo, Hughes re-grouped solidly in Mexico City with a point for tenth place, but much more was expected in Saudi Arabia where he delivered admirably.
“We executed it really well and on a different day we might have got second,” Hughes told Formula E Notebook.
“We had the plan before the race to look after energy, but I think when I was sitting in P8 or P9 at one point, I was wondering very briefly if it was the right thing to do.
“We did our attack modes a bit later. We had the overlap towards the end on the attack mode as well, had good energy to use it, and it worked really well.”
Hughes minute or so grace on the last attack over his direction opposition looked at one stage to guarantee a second place but Taylor Barnard had other thoughts in his NEOM McLaren Nissan. Some on edge defensive driving initially infuriated Hughes but after reflection the Maserati MSG driver was much more sanguine.
“It was on edge, on edge but I suppose I’ll leave it up to the powers that be, if they want to say it’s over the limit or not,” he said.
“I felt like, during braking, I was ahead, and I deserved a bit of right to some room, let’s say. I get it in the heat at the moment though, Taylor wants to fight for everything he’s got and probably I would do something similar.
“I wasn’t so enamored with it at the time, but I’ve probably cooled off a bit now.”
Overall Hughes and his side of the garage executed a strong race, as did Stoffel Vandoorne who just took former teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, who was dealing with an energy cut, to snatch sixth place at the finish line.
Hughes was one of only four drivers to have any previous experience of the Jeddah facility prior to the double header and reckoned that the nature of its grippy surface was a slight benefit.
“I drove here in 22 in F2, and I had a good weekend there as well, actually,” he said.
“I knew from there it’s super grippy. I think probably we were just unsure how the new sections, the chicanes, and the temporary tarmac, whether it’s temporary I’m not sure but it’s definitely new, how that would go.
“It’s probably the highest-grip track on the FE calendar or maybe FE history, potentially, as well. I really enjoyed driving it.”
Hughes also said that the new rolling four-minute average power rule, that was first reported by FEN in December, is a strong factor in the new-look low energy races this season.
“There are some things now by regulation that means we can’t have the super slow start of the race and then the big ramp up at the end,” said Hughes.
“So, you’re still getting like pack race, but like a pack light, almost, because of these changes from Season 10 to Season 11.
“But we still get the ten laps at the beginning, (to go) especially wide in a lot of corners and try to stay out of trouble. So that’s still there, but the attack mode has changed everything really.”
