Following a hugely challenging weekend, Maserati MSG Racing Team Principal James Rossiter left the Diriyah E-Prix “immensely proud” of the entire Monte-Carlo-based team, with the mechanics in particular having turned into heroes to get both cars ready following heavy collisions at the Riyadh Street Circuit.
For many of the mechanics in the Maserati outfit, the second and third rounds of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship may well be remembered as the toughest of their career so far, after the team were given a colossal task following qualifying for the first race of the Diriyah double-header. Friday’s qualifying session is one the team nor either driver will remember particularly fondly, after both Maximilian Günther and Edoardo Mortara hit the wall.
Günther crashed first at Turn Seven in the opening minutes of qualifying, absolutely destroying the front-right of his car in the process, to the point where he was unable to take part in the first race of the weekend. Mortara, on the other hand, hit the barrier on the outside of Turn Seventeen after losing the rear on the dusty part of the circuit; however, he managed to return to the pits. Remarkably, the team managed to get Mortara’s car ready in time for the race, where they then suffered yet more bad luck.
The Swiss driver retired late on following a puncture, to the disappointment of himself and the whole side. Day Two was considerably better and, most importantly, cleaner for the famous manufacturer, with Günther’s car having been ready ahead of Saturday’s Free Practice session. Günther went on to qualify tenth and finish nineteenth, whilst Mortara managed to sneak into the duels, before going on to claim a well-deserved ninth-place finish, securing his and the team’s first points of the season and the Gen3 era.
Maserati certainly showed an incredibly amount of heart and grit in Diriyah, with “clear steps forward” having certainly been made when the cars were on the circuit. Overall, Rossiter has seen how well his side “pulled together” in times of adversity, giving him the confidence that “we can achieve the results I know we’re capable of”.
“After a difficult weekend, it’s nice to get some points on the board, although we’re still a long way from where we want to be. Delivering a good result in qualifying was key to our performance today, and Edo was super sharp on lap one to get fifth after starting from seventh. Max also did a great job to make up some ground and was in contention for points throughout.
“We were able to keep good pace with the leaders in the early stages, but with the bunched-up field, it was very difficult to time our Attack Mode activations. The Safety Car then made that even more complex and unfortunately, with the increased pace, it was difficult to make many inroads ahead. It’s been a challenging two days for everyone in the team, but I’m immensely proud of how everyone has pulled together.
“We took clear steps forward this weekend, and if we keep digging, I know that we can achieve the results I know we’re capable of.”