Maximilian Günther was left absolutely furious after Saturday’s Monaco E-Prix, with the German’s race having been brought to a late end following contact with Dan Ticktum.
With the ninth round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship having been Maserati MSG Racing‘s home event, Günther was hopeful for a strong weekend, especially following his recent podium in Berlin. Saturday started well for the German after he topped Free Practice 2, before making it all the way to the Semi-Final stage of the duels, where he was beaten by Jake Hughes.
Nevertheless, starting fourth at the iconic Circuit de Monaco was a great result for Günther, who looked set to have a strong race. The Maserati driver was having a solid race amongst the top ten, before things did start to get messy in the closing stages. He collided with his team-mate at the Grand Hotel Hairpin whilst trying to avoid a car ahead of him, before he went into the back of Ticktum up Beau Rivage, bringing an immediate end to his race.
The incident with Ticktum was a massively controversial one, with the Briton having been dragging along his front wing underneath his car, following an earlier incident. Günther was furious following the collision with the NIO 333 Racing driver, with him having been left in shock at how he was “taken out by a competitor”.
“Today started really well for us, being fast and competitive in both practice sessions. Qualifying was great for me too, putting the car on the second row of the grid. We achieved our goals in this regard, and then tried to manage a good race.
“For sure, there are things that we can review but we were looking for a top five result today, which I think was realistic. It’s very hard to accept, being taken out by a competitor like we did today, but we need to accept it and move forward.”
“He tried to avoid an incident ahead” – Edoardo Mortara
Credit: Maserati MSG Racing
Edoardo Mortara‘s afternoon didn’t end that much better, despite having also enjoyed a strong qualifying. The Swiss driver claimed seventh on the grid for Saturday’s race, before settling into the points places in the opening stages of the E-Prix.
As mentioned, he was hit by Günther at the famous hairpin in the closing stages, with the incident having broken his front wing. There was nothing really that Mortara could’ve done to avoid the collision, with him noting that it’s becoming “more and more common” with the way Formula E races are currently unfolding.
He ultimately crossed the finish line in eleventh, marking a “frustrating” afternoon for the Maserati driver.
“It’s frustrating to have another difficult one this weekend. The pace we had in practice and qualifying was good and we did an intelligent strategy by saving so much energy at such an early point in the race.
“I was running close behind Max, he tried to avoid an incident ahead, turned into me and broke my wing – in that situation, there’s very little you can do and it’s becoming more and more common with this new style of racing. There are positives we can take into Jakarta.”