Recovery Drive to P6 Sees Maximilian Günther Start Season 12 With Points Finish
Starting the weekend with two practice sessions, it was clear that the São Paulo EPrix would not be a straightforward one, but Maximilian and the DS PENSKE Formula E team were determined to get the most out of the season opener. The race also marked Maximilian’s 100th race in Formula E, a milestone that he wanted to mark with the best result possible.
Qualifying saw the difficulties heightened as oversteer issues and a Torque Zero pattern saw Maximilian unable to qualifying into the Duels. The predicted pace of the car was around P9/P10, so the P16 Maximilian had to settle for was below par of what he and the team were hoping for.
With the São Paulo EPrix being a peloton style race, Maximilan and DS PENSKE knew that this could be a high action race that would bring them into the fold if they got their strategy right. It was working well, Maximilan using his first Attack Mode of four minutes and getting into the fight for points, but unfortunately just after Maximilian had activated his second Attack Mode the safety car was deployed.
This exposed Maximilian to the chasing pack behind, who still had four minutes of Attack available once the safety car had returned to the pits. He fought valiantly but the additional power to those in Attack Mode was a difficult threat to overthrow.
A red flag gave some respite from the threat behind, neutralising any Attack Mode advantage that Maximilian’s competitors had. Just one lap remained once the race had restarted, and Maximilian held off any last corner lunges to secure sixth place and eight points from the race.
RESULTS
Free Practice – P10, 1:10.225
Qualifying – P16 (Group A, P8, 1:12.788)
Race – P6
Championship Standing – P6 (8 points)
Maximilian Gūnther:
“Honestly, ending up P6 is a good recovery and a good situation on a day where things didn’t quite go our way. But we very much understand what was happening. In the free practice session, we could already tell we were not the fastest. I think our realistic pace was where we were: P9/P10. In qualifying, I got a Torque Zero pattern on the last corner, if I didn’t have this, I think I would have qualified around P9/P10. Obviously, we didn’t deliver it in qualifying which is why we were out of position in P16, but we knew there was a big and action-packed race ahead, so it was important to stay calm and focused. The race opened up for us, but it wasn’t perfect; we took our Attack and then the safety car came out so we were a bit exposed with a lot of people still with Attack remaining. We tried to hang on, and with a lot of things happened at the end – I’m glad everyone is OK – the red flag gave us a bit of respite. To walk away with a top six this weekend is positive.”