Team maintains strong momentum with top-10 finish in first part of Diriyah double-header
The Report
Maserati MSG Racing returned to the top 10 in the first part of the 2024 Diriyah E-Prix, with Maximilian Günther fighting to seventh in the first of two races at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Monégasque team entered the first double-header of the season with momentum in hand after starting the campaign with a competitive fourth place finish in Mexico City earlier in January.
While Max and team-mate, Jehan Daruvala, maximised their available track time in practice, constant track evolution emerged as a key performance factor throughout Friday, with lap times tumbling session by session.
In qualifying, Max successfully advanced to the duel stages by setting the second-fastest lap in Group B while a mistake for Jehan during his final run prevented the 25-year-old from progressing.
Unfortunately, Max narrowly missed out on a place in the Semi-Finals but stood in good contention for a points finish by securing eighth on the grid.
The duo drove excellently during the race, and while Max maintained his starting position off the line, Jehan battled forwards by overtaking Dan Ticktum and Sacha Fenestraz on lap one.
Upon settling into a rhythm, both drivers began to pressure their closest competitors, with Max continually chasing Nick Cassidy and momentarily exchanging positions with the Jaguar on lap 17.
On lap 22 of 37, Max rolled the dice by setting off a strategy chain-reaction inside the top 10, activating his first of two Attack Modes while crucially maintaining track position.
He overtook Sergio Sette Camara soon after, and upon clearing the ERT driver, activated his second Attack Mode to consolidate seventh before pursuing and closing in on Norman Nato.
Running out of laps to overtake, Max took seventh at the chequered flag to score six points while Jehan took home 20th, gaining invaluable track time and experience in only his second race in Formula E.
In Their Words
Maximilian Günther, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing
“Seventh was the maximum we could do today, but it was a good race. Overtaking on this track is extremely difficult, and we really tried our very best with the strategy. I think we absolutely executed it to the maximum. The car felt good, I gained one place, scored some good, solid points, and nearly got the fastest lap of the race. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow.”
Jehan Daruvala, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing
“Considering our qualifying, I think today’s race was always going to be difficult, but comparing it to Mexico City, I think I took some good steps forward. In my first race I finished quite far from the field, but this weekend I was able to stay with them and under-consume which was a big learning point. Qualifying higher up the grid will open up a lot of opportunities here, and I’m going to take my confidence from today into tomorrow.”
Cyril Blais, Chief Engineer, Maserati MSG Racing
“We executed our strategy well, drove a mistake-free race, and scored some points so overall, a good first race. The battle inside the top 10 was a game of cat and mouse, and because of the importance of track position here, everyone was waiting to have a gap before activating Attack Mode. Max was very intelligent and patient in this scenario. It was critical for him to pass [Sergio] Sette Camara, he did a good move, and got some good points. As the only rookie on the grid, Jehan is on a steep learning curve, but we’re seeing him make good progress every session. Once he found his rhythm today, he managed to save some energy and his pace was very promising. Tomorrow’s race will be shorter so we’ll see even less energy saving than today, but because the grip levels will be higher, the conditions should suit our package better. If we qualify well, we should be in with a good chance to score points.”
Giovanni Sgro, Head of Maserati Corse
“It’s always exciting to race at night in the heart of the desert. A second race with both cars crossing the finish line and Max finishing in the top ten, bringing home important new points for us. Jehan is at his second race and is still getting familiar with the car and the electric series. Diriyah is the first double header on the calendar, always a good opportunity to move up in the ranking. Tomorrow we will try to improve performance by analyzing today's data and continue to be protagonists in the race.”
