Maserati MSG Racing Team Principal James Rossiter has warned that the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship “is a marathon, not a sprint”, with the Monte-Carlo-based team seemingly still in the starting blocks, following a challenging start to the Gen3 era. With this weekend’s Hyderabad E-Prix being a new venue for everybody, though, Maserati’s season could well and truly get up-and-running if they play their cards correctly.
It has been a really tough start to the season for Maserati, with the side having scored zero points at the season opener, only for things to get even worse ahead of the first race in Diriyah. Both Maximilian Günther and Edoardo Mortara hit a barrier hard during qualifying for Race One, putting enormous strain on the team to fix the cars. Mortara’s was miraculously fixed, whilst Günther’s damage was too severe for the race, meaning just one Maserati took to the grid for the race. Mortara ended up retiring from it late on following a puncture, just to add to the side’s disappointment.
Race Two, though, presented a new opportunity to the team, which Mortara in particular jumped at. The Swiss driver made it into the duels for the team’s first time of the season, before finishing ninth in the second race of the weekend to score the team’s first points of the year.
Whilst just two points on the board really isn’t what the side would’ve been hoping for from the first three races of the season, there is still so much time for things to change, which they will for sure given how new Gen3 is for everybody still. With that in mind, this weekend’s E-Prix presents a fantastic opportunity to the side, given that everybody is “starting from zero”, based on the fact the circuit has never been visited before.
This weekend’s race actually marks the first of three consecutive races at a new venue, which by all means will a “challenging period” for the team, but actually a great opportunity to move towards the front.
Rossiter admits himself the season hasn’t started “the way that we hoped”, but is confident that “the results will come”.
“There’s no denying that this season hasn’t started in the way that we hoped, but with hard work behind the scenes, we’ve been able to take some positive steps so far. Our work to optimise and refine our technical package continued immediately after Diriyah and we’re well prepared for Hyderabad. This weekend’s race marks the start of one of, if not the most, challenging periods on the calendar, in which we visit three brand new host cities, all of which are long-haul.
“This will make for a steep learning curve, but since every team is effectively starting from zero at each track, the playing field should be levelled. Season 9 is a marathon, not a sprint, and we need to maintain our current approach, stay focussed and believe that the results will come.”