Maserati MSG Racing faces double retirement in Cape Town
The Race In Numbers
Edoardo Mortara
Free Practice One // P1
Free Practice Two // P2
Qualifying // P16 [1:15.775, Group B]
Race // DNF
Positions Gained N/A
Fastest Lap // 1:33.486
Championship Position // P19 [3 points]
Maximilian Günther
Free Practice One // P7
Free Practice Two // P8
Qualifying // P2 [1:08.270, Final]
Race // DNF
Positions Gained N/A
Fastest Lap // 1:10.347
Championship Position // P20 [0 points]
Maserati MSG Racing
Championship Position // P10 [3 points]
The Report
Maserati MSG Racing experienced a bruising weekend in South Africa after suffering a double retirement at the inaugural Cape Town E-Prix.
After making positive progress since the start of the season, the team showed strong pace throughout practice for the fifth race of the current campaign.
Edoardo Mortara and Maximilian Günther carried this performance into qualifying and launched their efforts in Group B to produce a competitive display.
In the closing minutes, however, Edo unfortunately hit the wall in Turn Nine after losing traction on the entry to the left-hander, before being collected by Sam Bird who suffered a similar misfortune.
Both escaped the accident unscathed, and although the session was not resumed, Max advanced to the duel stages after posting the fourth-fastest lap time.
He defeated René Rast and Mitch Evans in the Quarter- and Semi-Finals to face Sacha Fenestraz in the pole position shootout but fell short of the Nissan driver to start second on the grid.
In the garage, meanwhile, extensive repair work continued on Edo’s Tipo Folgore, and this impressive effort allowed the Swiss-Italian to start the race from the pitlane.
Max came under pressure from Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy at the start but fended off the Kiwi on the opening lap to maintain second place.
A crash at the end of the first lap for Pascal Wehrlein triggered an early Safety Car, while Edo stopped on track to retire with a technical issue.
Max led the field to green flag running at the end of lap five after overtaking Fenestraz moments before the race neutralisation and continued to lead upon activating Attack Mode on lap 10.
He surrendered second to Fenestraz by activating his final Attack Mode on lap 14 but clipped the wall on lap 21 to unfortunately retire with suspension damage.
Formula E’s ninth season will continue in São Paulo on 24-25 March.
In Their Words
James Rossiter, Team Principal, Maserati MSG Racing
“Season 9 hasn’t seen the easiest of starts, but after showing great pace in practice and making it into the final duel in qualifying here in Cape Town, we had some high hopes for the race. It’s disappointing not to see those hopes realised. We have a small gap before Brazil to hit the reset button and we will come back stronger.”
Edoardo Mortara, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing
“It’s been a very disappointing and frustrating weekend, especially after we showed such good pace during practice. The team did an incredible job to get the car back out on track after qualifying. They’re the real heroes of today, and they deserved so much more.”
Maximilian Günther, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing
“Our pace was very good across the whole weekend and it was great to put the car on the front row. The race wasn’t easy, but we managed well to run in the top 3. I was pushing to close the gap, but tapped the wall which broke my rear suspension. There are positives that we can take, but obviously, this is a bitter pill to swallow.”
Giovanni Sgro, Head of Maserati Corse
“Like every race we came to South Africa to do our best and we always aim to get the most of every round. Unfortunately, we also know motorsport can be unpredictable right up to the chequered flag, and despite great practice sessions and amazing qualifying, our drivers did not finish the race today. Both Edo and Max showed a strong performance and speed, as always. Every race is a chance for us to learn something, collecting important data and improving our experience in this first year of Formula E. As a brand with such a racing history, Maserati knows well that the important thing is to always look ahead and stay united as a Team to come back stronger. We now focus on Sao Paolo and we look forward to a good racing weekend.”
