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History in the making: Taylor Barnard becomes Formula E’s youngest winner

FEATURE 18 Aug 2026 2 Mins

On the day that Formula E crowned a new champion, DS PENSKE's Taylor Barnard made some history of his own.

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feature taylor barnard season 12

Youngest driver to start a Formula E race, youngest pole sitter and youngest driver to claim a podium. Heading into the final race weekend of the 2025/26 season, DS PENSKE's Taylor Barnard was missing just one record (and arguably the most important one) - to be named Formula E's youngest race winner.

REPORT: Wehrlein navigates dramatic finale to seal Drivers' title as Barnard wins in London

Barnard joined the French squad at the start of the season, following NEOM McLaren's exit from the championship, and despite showing moments of promise and raw pace over the course of the 2025/26 campaign, he has struggled to replicate the impressive points scoring haul of his rookie year.

But heading into the final day of the season, with most eyes on the fight at the head of the championship, British-born Barnard quietly put together a confident and assured performance in qualifying, placing him 6th on the grid for the E-Prix. In the race, Barnard remained in contention throughout, closely following the Mahindra Racing duo of Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara.

The winning moment came in the closing stages of the race, when Barnard's late ATTACK MODE activation saw him able to muscle by Mortara for P2, then polesitter de Vries for the win with a sneaky dive up the inside of the Season 8 champion into the final turn with just two laps left to run.

"I think playing around the championship games was obviously important," said Formula E's newest race winner. "As soon as I got to P3 and I had Antonio behind me, I knew there was going to be some games going on, so it almost felt like a podium secured at that point. And then I was just trying to do everything I can to get as much advantage on the Mahindras as possible.

I didn't think it was going to be possible, they both had two minutes more energy. So, yeah, to be able to get both of them, honestly, is unreal."

At 22 years and 76 days old, Barnard becomes the youngest race winner in Formula E history, taking the record from his DS PENSKE teammate Maximilian Gunther, who won the 2020 Santiago E-Prix at 22 years and 200 days old. And after a long season of highs and lows, surely the result gives the young Brit a big dose of confidence heading into the off season.

"I've now got two complete seasons in Formula E under my belt," he says. "And it's been a long learning process, but obviously the longer I'm going, the more experience I'm getting and the better I'm getting generally at the races, so it's going to keep going. But obviously, it's a massive confidence boost for the team as well. It's been such a tough season, so everybody deserves it."

Taylor Barnard finishes the 2025/26 season 11th in the Drivers' Championship on 68 points.