Maximilian Günther secures two top 10 finishes in double-header 2024 Diriyah E-Prix

 

Maserati MSG Racing driver, Maximilian Günther, completed a successful race weekend at the 2024 Diriyah E-Prix by securing two top 10 finishes in the first double-header event of the FIA Formula E World Championship’s 10th campaign.

Max, from Oberstdorf, Germany, entered the weekend with momentum in his favour after the 26-year-old enjoyed a competitive start to the year by finishing in fourth place at the season-opening Mexico City E-Prix earlier in January.

Situated on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Diriyah E-Prix is acclaimed as one of Formula E’s most challenging races, and continual track evolution – on a complex, technical circuit – emerged as a key performance factor for the duration of the weekend.

Max, however, remained in control throughout, and after placing ninth and second in practice, set the second-fastest time in the group stages of qualifying on Friday to pave his way to the duels, which was made up of the session’s eight fastest drivers. After narrowly missing out on the Semi-Finals, Max started Race One from eighth and successfully held critical track position at the start to quickly apply pressure on his closest competitors.

In an intense on-track battle, Max briefly exchanged positions with Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy on lap 17 but successfully claimed and consolidated seventh place at a later stage with an opportunistic yet defensive Attack Mode strategy. Max held the position to the chequered flag to add six points to his World Championship efforts, but with further refinement overnight, continued to take steps forward.

This was reflected in the final practice session of the weekend on Saturday when Max placed third, although he narrowly missed out on the duel stages in qualifying, lining up 11th on the grid.

Despite losing ground on the opening lap of Race Two, Max quickly found his rhythm, and by taking advantage of each opportunity that presented itself, fought into top 10 with the aim of maintaining his 100% points scoring record in 2024. In the closing stages, Max set out in pursuit of Jean-Eric Vergne but was unable to overtake the two-time champion and finished ninth at the flag to score a further two points, moving to sixth in the World Drivers’ Championship.

Max will resume his Season 10 campaign with Maserati MSG Racing on March 26, 2024, in São Paulo, Brazil.

“Seventh was the maximum we could do [in Race One], 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. [Race Two] was more difficult. Our qualifying didn’t go according to plan, and on lap one, we dropped to 12th but we managed to recover some places to finish ninth. We executed a good strategy, so a big thank you to the team and especially to [team-mate] Jehan [Daruvala] who helped me out. I think we did the maximum we could. For sure, [Saturday] wasn’t an ideal day but we turned it into a solid outcome. We’ve had three races, secured three points finishes, and we have had a strong start to the year. I’m feeling good, and I’m looking forward to the next race in São Paulo.”