Maserati MSG Racing fought to the top 10 in the second leg of the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix, with Edoardo Mortara finishing ninth at the Riyadh Street Circuit.
One day on from a challenging opening race at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Monegasque marque returned to form, and extracted positive pace in qualifying to build growing momentum.
Both Edo and team-mate Maximilian Günther launched their efforts from Group B, and although Max fell shy of the duels, Edo slotted into the top four to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
Here, the Swiss-Italian racer faced off against Jaguar’s Mitch Evans and qualified seventh after losing out to the Kiwi over the one-lap head-to-head. Max, meanwhile, secured 10th.
At the start of the 39-lap affair, both drivers made positive progress, and while Edo advanced to fifth on lap one, Max snatched ninth by overtaking Stoffel Vandoorne on lap nine.
From here, the duo settled into a consistent rhythm, although Edo lost ground on the 21st lap after being passed by Jake Dennis and Sam Bird.
A Safety Car on lap 27, caused by a collision for Nico Müller, disrupted the team’s intended strategy and a return to green flag running on lap 31 left a 10-tour dash to the chequered flag.
Edo and Max used both of their Attack Modes during this time, and unfortunately slipped down the order on the final lap to finish ninth and 19th.
The FIA Formula E World Championship’s ninth season will resume on February 11, with a maiden outing in Hyderabad, India.
In Their Words
James Rossiter, Team Principal, Maserati MSG Racing
“After a difficult weekend, it’s nice to get some points on the board, although we’re still a long way from where we want to be. Delivering a good result in qualifying was key to our performance today, and Edo was super sharp on lap one to get fifth after starting from seventh. Max also did a great job to make up some ground and was in contention for points throughout. We were able to keep good pace with the leaders in the early stages, but with the bunched-up field, it was very difficult to time our Attack Mode activations. The Safety Car then made that even more complex and unfortunately, with the increased pace, it was difficult to make many inroads ahead. It’s been a challenging two days for everyone in the team, but I’m immensely proud of how everyone has pulled together. We took clear steps forward this weekend, and if we keep digging, I know that we can achieve the results I know we’re capable of.”
Edoardo Mortara, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing
“After a tough first race, I think we recovered quite well today and advancing to the qualifying duels put us in a good position to challenge for points. I had quite a bit of wheelspin at the start, but I was able to get into the top five by passing Seb [Buemi] and Jake [Dennis]. Unfortunately, we didn’t really have the pace to stay with the leaders in the long-run, but after yesterday, we should be happy with some points. We have taken some steps forward, but we need to regroup before Hyderabad so we can continue to fight through the challenges we’re facing. I’m very grateful to my team and I have a lot of respect for everyone in the garage for all their hard work this weekend.”
Maximilian Günther, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing
“It’s been a very difficult weekend for us. The guys did a fantastic job to build a new car for today, and I think we made some positive steps in qualifying. Throughout the race, we were close to the points, but didn’t have the ultimate pace and efficiency to move forward. Although Diriyah has been tough, we’re a strong team and we need to keep pushing. I know that we can get there.”
Giovanni Sgro, Head of Maserati Corse
“First points of the season for the Maserati MSG Racing team with Edo finishing in ninth. It’s been a challenging weekend here in Diriyah, however the resilience of the team enabled us to have both drivers competing out on track. We’ve learnt a lot and now we’re looking ahead to India and to Round Four in Hyderabad.”
Maserati MSG Racing
Maserati MSG Racing is one of the founding teams of the FIA Formula E World Championship and in December 2013, became the first manufacturer to join motorsport’s premier fully-electric category. As one of only a handful of constant participants since the series’ inaugural 2014/15 season, MSG Racing has moved from strength to strength and in 2021, tasted vice World Championship success with Edoardo Mortara before completing its most successful season to date in 2022, finishing the season as the vice World Teams’ Champions.
Led by Chairman & Managing Partner, Scott Swid, and Team Principal, James Rossiter, the Monegasque marque is Formula E’s most gender-diverse team and is at the forefront of sustainability, EDI, technical innovation and excellence. For further information please visit our website. For media hub access and rights free content, please register here.
