Maserati MSG Racing recovers to top 10 in chaotic London E-Prix

The Race in Numbers

Edoardo Mortara
Free Practice One // P17
Free Practice Two // P19
Qualifying One // P11 [1:11.161, Group A] Race One // P6
Fastest Lap // 1:13.767
Championship // P14 [37 points]

Maximilian Günther
Free Practice One // P4
Free Practice Two // P17
Qualifying One // P14 [1:11.365, Group B] Race One // P13
Fastest Lap // 1:13.638
Championship // P6 [101 points]

Maserati MSG Racing
Championship // P6 [138 points]

In Detail
Maserati MSG Racing’s Edoardo Mortara executed a strong recovery drive in the first race of the London E-Prix double-header, with the Swiss-Italian recovering from an early incident to finish inside the top 10.

The Monaco-based team returned to the unique indoor-outdoor ExCeL circuit following a competitive weekend in Rome, which was marked by a fourth podium of the current campaign.

The team collected invaluable data over the course of practice, but unfortunately missed out on the qualifying duels by only a handful of tenths.

Edo started the race from 11th, while Max lined up in 14th, and the pair made progress with a careful and opportunistic opening lap.

After rising to ninth, Edo was struck by Stoffel Vandoorne in Turn One, dropped to the rear of the field, and pitted for repairs on lap seven.

Max slotted into the top 10 by overtaking Norman Nato in the meantime, while Edo strategically used both Attack Modes to close in on the field ahead.

Max continued his assault in the points by overtaking Dan Ticktum, although a collision for Nick Cassidy promoted a Safety Car on lap 16, allowing Edo to rejoin at the rear of the pack.

When the race was resumed, Max and Edo held seventh and 17th and continued to rise forward before a crash in Turn 16 for Sacha Fenestraz led to a second Safety Car and subsequent Red Flag.

During the race’s pause, Max was forced to make repairs and resumed the penultimate race of the season in 15th while with a patient drive, Edo restarted from ninth.

Shortly after the restart, a multi-car collision in Turn 19 led to a second Red Flag, creating a high-stakes two-lap sprint to the chequered flag for the final restart.

Edo took the finish line in eighth while Max finished 10th before a five-second time penalty for an earlier incident pushed the young German outside the points.

A series of penalties elsewhere on the grid promoted Edo to sixth.

Formula E’s ninth season will conclude on Sunday, 30 July 2023, where Maserati MSG Racing will continue its pursuit of the top five in the World Teams’ Championship.

In Their Words

James Rossiter, Team Principal, Maserati MSG Racing
“This season has been quite the journey. We came into this final weekend off the back of a very strong points run, but today, we faced some difficult moments. After making a good start, Edo was taken out by another car, which dropped him all the way to the back, but he drove a remarkable recovery to finish sixth. Max lost out on points today as he was forced to change his damaged front wing during the first Red Flag, which put him right at the back for the restart. He drove a good comeback but unfortunately, just missed out on the points. Overall, today has been an exciting performance, we’ve learned many lessons, and we’ll fight hard tomorrow to end the season in the best way possible.”

Edoardo Mortara, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing
“In the face of quite a chaotic race, I think we can be proud of our result. Qualifying didn’t go as we had hoped, but I was able to pick out the right line at the start and was able to move into the top 10. Unfortunately, I was hit from behind by Stoffel [Vandoorne] which put me at the back of the grid, but with the Safety Cars and Red Flags, I was able to close back in on the field. Today’s race was just about keeping the nose clean, which we did, and we can be happy with P6. We’ll keep working on our pace overnight so we can come back stronger and hopefully, end the season on a high.”

Maximilian Günther, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing
“Obviously, a very action packed race. I started P14, and I think we did a great job making up many places step-by-step throughout the race, keeping our car clean. At one point I was running P7 and at this point, I was in a decent position to take away great points from this race. There were incidents where a lot of chaos happened, we try to stay out of it. There were two Red Flags, and unfortunately, in the first Red Flag, they decided to make us pit. I thought our car was fine to continue to do the race but in the end, it wasn’t our decision. At this point, our race was very much sacrificed. We tried to finish in the points and almost got there, but it wasn’t meant to be. A tough day at the office, but nevertheless, we’ve shown a great race in many regards but not the one that mattered most. But this is racing sometimes. You need to accept it and move on, and our motivation is already sky-high for tomorrow for one great final day.”

Giovanni Sgro, Head of Maserati Corse
“First of all, congratulations to Jake Dennis and Team Andretti for their first Formula E world title. It was a really intense race and it’s good for all of us and the fans to have had a tight battle for the championship until the end of the season. This penultimate race wasn’t an ideal one for us but we are happy with Edo’s top 10 finish. Despite the two Safety Cars and the restart, both our drivers stayed away from troubles and we have still tomorrow’s race to give it our all for the final show on track.”