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Points for Maserati MSG Racing - at Monaco E-Prix
Maserati MSG Racing secured a ninth-place finish at the 2024 Monaco E-Prix to score two points in a challenging home race in the Principality. The team, which is headquartered only 500 metres from the legendary street circuit, entered the mid-way point of Formula E’s 10th season in good form after taking consecutive podium finishes in Tokyo and Misano.
Drivers, Maximilian Günther and Jehan Daruvala, showcased encouraging performance across practice and extracted good pace in Qualifying in Monaco to both start inside the top 10. While Jehan narrowly missed out on the duels to line up in10th, Max progressed to the head-to-head stages of the session but lost out to eventual polesitter, Pascal Wehrlein, to qualify eighth. The duo secured a clean start to the race, and while Jehan moved forward to ninth, Max advanced to fifth in a daring first lap which saw the 26-year-old gain three positions into Turn One.
With a long race ahead, both drivers settled into a consistent rhythm before an accident for Edoardo Mortara led to a Safety Car which paused the race on lap five. When action was resumed at the end of lap eight, Max slipped to seventh but quickly fought forward and recovered to the top five by overtaking Wehrlein on lap 13. Jehan, meanwhile, rose to eighth but encountered several issues when trying to activate Attack Mode – a problem which cost the Indian racer vital track position for the remainder of the race.
Ahead, Max used his first Attack Mode to further consolidate his position in the battle for fifth but was pushed wide by Oliver Rowland on lap 20, costing him three positions. With his second Attack Mode activation, Max fell outside of the top 10 but recovered to ninth before a second Safety Car period on lap 25. Despite applying consistent pressure on Sacha Fenestraz until the line, Max finished ninth at the chequered flag while Jehan was 20th, with the fastest lap, following his Attack Mode issues. Season 10 of the FIA Formula E World Championship will resume on 11-12 May, 2024, for the double-header Berlin E-Prix.
Maximilian Günther - Driver - Maserati MSG Racing
“We can be happy with points today. After Qualifying we tried to go forward and did a fantastic first lap, gaining three places but the race didn’t go our way. A lot of drivers were pretty aggressive, we were boxed in a few times, and that caused us to lose positions in key moments. In the end, ninth was the best we could do. The car felt better in the race compared to how it felt earlier in the day, so we can be happy that we took some steps forward. Unfortunately, we can’t always be at the front but we still scored points which is the most important thing at this stage.”
Jehan Daruvala - Driver - Maserati MSG Racing
“Today’s race was very frustrating, especially after a decent Qualifying. I made good progress at the start, but my Attack Mode activation wasn’t working. I tried to take it six or seven times without success which cost me a lot of places. There isn’t much we can do in that scenario, but we’ll regroup for Berlin.”
Cyril Blais - Chief Engineer - Maserati MSG Racing
“A difficult race for the team. With both cars starting inside the top 10, we had a reasonable hope of scoring a double points finish. We started the race well and Max did an excellent job to move into the top five. After that, things didn’t go as we planned. We were surrounded by a lot of drivers who were team-mates which meant that they could play a team game with the strategy. At that stage, we were on course for a top six finish but Max has an incident with [Oliver] Rowland. It was hard racing, but fair, but it cost us three positions. Shortly after that, the Safety Car came out and that lowered energy saving targets for everybody which reduced the number of overtaking opportunities. Our race could have been worse, and it could have been better, but we scored points which is the main thing. Jehan did a great job and was set for a good finish but we had an issue with the Attack Mode activation which we’re still investigating. It’s disappointing, but we’ll regroup. In two weeks, we have the Berlin E-Prix which was the site of our first podium in Gen3 last season, and we’re hoping to go for big points there once again.”
Giovanni Sgro - Head of Maserati Corse
"We know how tricky Monaco can be and today was no exception. At the start Max and Jehan managed to gain some positions and were consistent and hungry for most of the race. We are happy Max was able to gain valuable points by finishing in the top 10 – he never gave up until the chequered flag – and Jehan showed that he is capable to fight in the top 10 among the top drivers. Regardless of performance, it is always positive for us to showcase our racing spirit and how much our electric future, embodied by the Folgore range, takes inspiration from the track. We are glad our drivers are making progress and that they can handle even difficult races round after round. Next stop is Berlin, with a double-header, where we keep great memories from last year. We are looking forward to this race."
