Maximilian Günther storms to second win of 2025 at Shanghai E-Prix
Maximilian Günther takes his second victory of the 2024/25 Formula E season, delivering a dominant performance in a thrilling Shanghai E-Prix
German Formula E driver, Maximilian Günther, stormed to a dominant victory in Round 10 of the 2024/25 FIA Formula E World Championship to take his second win of the season in the first part of a thrilling double-header Shanghai E-Prix.
After taking a spectacular win at the Jeddah E-Prix earlier in the year, Max showed consistent promise during Formula E’s race weekends in Miami, Monaco, and Tokyo, and despite having a difficult start in Shanghai with a technical issue in FP1, he quickly bounced back.
Come Qualifying, Max was the class of the field and led the way in Group A to advance to the session’s duel stages. By first defeating Oliver Rowland, and then Nick Cassidy, he progressed into the Final where he vanquished Taylor Barnard by almost 0.4 seconds to claim pole position.
Facing an energy critical first race in Shanghai, Max strategically sacrificed his lead on the first lap to settle into a saving rhythm but by measuring his pace, ensured that he was a consistent presence inside the top five, always ready to pounce.
On lap 13, the 27-year-old rolled the strategy dice by taking Pit Boost – a mandatory 600kW energy boost providing a 10% increase in energy – and immediately activated his first of two Attack Modes upon rejoining the circuit.
With the benefit of added power, Max sliced his way through the field and snatched the net-race lead from Rowland on lap 18 before ascending to the head of the pack once the pit phase of the race was complete.
Max used his second Attack Mode to strengthen his hold on the position, but despite falling to fourth, carved his way back up the order. Returning to first on lap 26, he extended his lead to take a dominant win while leading home a landmark first-ever 1-2 finish for DS PENSKE in Formula E, with team-mate, Jean-Eric Vergne, finishing second.
Extreme wet weather caused heavy disruptions to Round 11, and following the cancellation of FP3, Max started from ninth after the duel stages of Qualifying were also cancelled due to poor track conditions.
Max made a good start to the race and ran as high as sixth by taking Attack Mode early, but was forced to retire with a battery issue on lap 20.
Following his second victory of the season, Max holds sixth in the World Drivers’ Championship with 71 points. His Formula E season will continue on 21 June 2025 with the Jakarta E-Prix – a race weekend he dominated in Season 9 with back-to-back pole positions, podiums, and one race win.
Maximilian Günther, DS PENSKE Driver
“What a day! Qualifying couldn’t have gone any better and starting from pole obviously gave us a good advantage. But of course, we knew it would be a long race. All the planets finally aligned and we were able to win in style! I’m very grateful to the whole team. This 1-2 means so much for all of us, as it’s the result of a lot of previous hard work, as well as all the different processes we have put in place.
“We’re obviously disappointed not to see the finish of Sunday’s race due to a battery problem. Having said that, we were having a great race up to then. We qualified ninth, and were making our way up through the field with strong pace and some good overtaking moves. What happened next is a pity, but it’s all part of motorsport. Above all, we’re going to remember our great result on Saturday: it was truly incredible to secure a 1-2 finish! We’re also going to hold onto the fact that our performance on Sunday was right up there, and I can’t wait to get to Jakarta now.”
2025 Shanghai E-Prix Maximilian Günther Results
Free Practice 1: P22
Free Practice 2: P4
Qualifying 1: P1
Race 1: P1
Free Practice 3: P17
Qualifying 2: P9
Race 2: DNF
Championship Position: P6 [71 points]