Oliver Rowland displayed remarkable sportsmanship after narrowly missing victory in the first race of the Jeddah E-Prix, where he lost the lead in the final corners to Maximilian Guenther.

Despite building a substantial lead before the Pit Boost fast-charging stops, Rowland's energy conservation strategy and one fewer Attack Mode usage left him vulnerable in the closing stages. Guenther ultimately overtook him at the Turn 14-15-16 chicane just before the finish line.

"Whenever you lose the victory in the last corner, it's disappointing, but I'm pretty happy," Rowland reflected. "The car was good, we stuck to our strategy. It was a great race as a spectacle. I had to be almost inch perfect every lap, and it came down to half a second."

Rowland acknowledged that knowing Guenther's energy advantage might have led to a different race approach, rather than building such an early gap. The Nissan driver had to lift in the final corner to conserve energy, while Guenther maintained full power.

The team's strategy involved a conservative first stint to avoid traffic, though they expected more competitors to adopt similar late-pit tactics. "We did everything right," Rowland concluded. "We just lacked five hundredths of energy in the last corner, and that's it."

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