Maserati MSG Racing's Podium Dreams End In Disappointment At London E-Prix

Published: Sunday, July 21, 2024, 2:03 [IST]

Maserati MSG Racing faced a tough challenge during the 2024 London E-Prix, narrowly missing out on a podium finish in the penultimate race of Formula E’s 11th season. Despite showing promising speed in practice, both drivers, Maximilian Günther and Jehan Daruvala, struggled during qualifying and missed the duel stages.Maximilian Günther started from 11th place but quickly moved up to second by lap 26. He overtook several competitors, including Norman Nato and Sebastien Buemi. Unfortunately, a technical issue forced him to retire just before the finish. Jehan Daruvala also faced difficulties, sustaining damage during a late restart and finishing 18th.In their words, Maximilian Günther expressed his disappointment: "Today hurts a lot. It’s heartbreaking. Our race was perfect and to hold second comfortably with a few laps to go after starting from 11th on a track like London is extraordinary. Today we struck the right balance between attacking and defending and we executed a strong performance. We did everything right, but we were stopped by reliability. We know we have the pace to be at the front here and tomorrow, that’s the goal."Jehan Daruvala shared his mixed feelings about the day: "Overall, it was a mixed day for me. In Qualifying the position was disappointing but I took good steps forward in the race. We stuck to our strategy, stuck to our plan and we were looking good for a top 10 finish. The ending was extremely disappointing. The team and I deserved better from today, and we know that we have the pace to fight inside the top 10. That’s my goal for tomorrow."Cyril Blais, Deputy Team Principal of Maserati MSG Racing, commented on the day's events: "Only the points that you score at the end of the race matter, and the fact that we had one car DNF, and the other get taken out at the end shows that it was a terrible day for the team. It isn’t what the team or the drivers deserve. On Max’s side, we did everything perfectly and we were unfortunately let down by a reliability issue. On Jehan’s, he was making great progress and was inside the top 10 and came very close to scoring points. A double top 10 finish today would have shown all of the effort we have been putting in this year, and from here, we just need to review everything that happened. It’s been a very disappointing day, but we have the pace. We need to convert that tomorrow."

Looking Ahead

Giovanni Sgro, Head of Maserati Corse added: "Extremely disappointing day. We were set to finish in P2 and P7 and due to some last laps issues, unfortunately we had to settle for a DNF for Max and last place for Jehan. However, none of us have forgotten how important it is to build the season race by race, even at the most challenging times and the last round is no exception. A team is judged by its victories, but it’s also the challenges that build character and determination. Tomorrow is another race-day, and we are going to bring the same energy as always."The final race of Season 10 will take place on Sunday, 21 July 2024 in London.

Maserati MSG Racing's journey through Formula E has been marked by steady growth since joining as one of its founding teams in December 2013.