Maserati MSG Racing Wins Inaugural Tokyo E-Prix

EE News Desk Apr 01, 2024

Maserati MSG Racing secured victory at the 2024 Tokyo E-Prix, with Maximilian Günther winning the FIA Formula E World Championship’s inaugural race in Japan.

Max, who entered the weekend after displaying a strong recovery drive in São Paulo two weeks earlier, showed a competitive pace throughout practice and placed third in FP1 and FP2.

Come qualifying, the 26-year-old continued to extract his performance to maximum effect, and by setting the fastest time in Group B, secured his place in the duel stages.

By defeating Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein in the quarter-finals, Max went up against Sergio Sette Camara in the penultimate stage but beat the ERT driver in his head-to-head to compete in the final.

In the final, Max displayed a fighting performance against Oliver Rowland but missed out on pole position by only 0.021 seconds to start second. His team-mate, Jehan Daruvala, meanwhile, qualified 17th for the fifth race of his Formula E career.

Starting on the dirty side of the circuit, Max, unfortunately, lost second place off the line to Edoardo Mortara, while Daruvala executed a clean, calculated, and opportunistic opening lap to make up ground.

As the race evolved, Max quickly settled into a rhythm but leveraged his attack mode strategy to his advantage, overcutting both Mortara and Rowland to rise to the lead before taking his first activation on lap 14.

Max rejoined the race in third, but with the benefit of extra power, overtook Mortara on track and set out to chase after Rowland, although a Safety Car on lap 20 – deployed for debris – neutralised the race until lap 22.

After resuming his pursuit for the lead after the restart, Max staged a crucial overtake on Rowland on lap 25 and built a big enough gap over the Briton to take his final attack mode without sacrificing track position.

Despite facing mounting pressure in the closing stages, Max held the lead until the chequered flag to secure the fifth victory of his Formula E career and the Maserati brand’s second since joining the fully electric category in Season 9.

After making a strong start, team-mate Daruvala unfortunately sustained damage early in the race after being hit by Jean-Eric Vergne in Turn One and finished 18th.

With 48 points scored this season, Max holds fifth in the World Drivers’ Championship, while Maserati MSG Racing holds seventh in the Teams’ Standings, overtaking reigning champions Envision Racing.

Formula E’s 10th season will resume on 13-14 April 2024, for the inaugural Misano E-Prix – the Trident’s home race in Italy.

Maximilian Günther, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing stated, “An incredible weekend. We were in the top three in every session and almost got pole position, but securing the win feels so special – everybody did an amazing job. I felt great in the car, and we’ve taken some good steps as a team in the last few weeks. Since São Paulo, I think we’ve shown that we have a really strong pace and today, we converted it into a win. There was a lot of energy management in the race, but we covered ourselves well, perfectly executed the strategy, and the moves, and did everything we had to do. It’s amazing to win Formula E’s first-ever race in Tokyo, and I’m proud. We need to enjoy this moment.”

Jehan Daruvala, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing mentioned, “Firstly, I want to wish a big congratulations to Max! It’s a massive win for the team, and he did a really good job. On my side, my race start was good and I made some good progress over the first few laps, but unfortunately, I picked up some front wing damage after being hit from the side. There is still a lot for me to learn in race conditions so I can maximise my performance, but I’m going to continue to work hard over the coming weeks and push for points at Misano.”

Cyril Blais, Chief Engineer, Maserati MSG Racing said, “Today’s race was incredible, and the result is the realisation of months and months of hard work for us as a team. We executed a very well-planned strategy, and we decided to be aggressive – instead of settling for the podium, we chose to push for the win, and I’m very proud of Max and the team for doing such a good job. Jehan was unlucky today and was taken out early in the race through no fault of his own. He’s on a steep learning curve, but we’re continuing to see good progress for him, and hopefully we can target the top 10 with him at Misano. After five races on four very different tracks, we’ve shown great promise and potential so far this season. With our package, we know that we can be competitive almost every weekend, and that gives us all great motivation. I’m confident that we can achieve great things this year.”

Giovanni Sgro, Head, Maserati Corse pointed out, “What a day! To win in Tokyo in the first Formula E race on Japanese soil is very exciting and we are happy Maserati has signed its name in the modern history of the series in a new country. Max was consistent throughout the weekend; an incredible and well-deserved victory for the whole team, which never gives up, and finally, after four rounds in which we battled for the podium and always secured points, we can enjoy the prize. From the very first duels at the front, Max was confident he could win this race and did everything to take the victory. The race was very challenging as always when it comes to a new circuit, and it is even more rewarding to win where no one knows what to expect. Jehan suffered a bit this weekend but he is always ready to learn a new lesson race by race and this circuit was an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming round in Italy, where I am sure he will be able to perform well, eager to show his talent as well. I am very proud of everyone today and we couldn’t be happier ahead of our home race in Misano; this win is a real boost and we can’t wait to get back on track and show what we are capable of in front of the Italian fans. But now, let’s go celebrate!”