Weather Works Against Maximilian Günther as Dry Strategy does not Pay Off
Pace at the Maimi Hard Rock Stadium circuit looked good for Maximilian in the free practice sessions, with the work done since the Mexico City EPrix moved both driver and car in the right direction. He was hopeful going into qualifying that he could get back into the fight in the championship battle and put on a great showing for points.
A small mistake saw Maximilian miss out on the Qualifying Duels by 0.006s, taking tenth on the starting grid. Starting in the top ten gave confidence for a points finish, and the strong feeling with the car made Maximilian certain that a top five or podium fight was achievable.
The rain that had been threatening all day fell between Qualifying and the race, making the track not fully wet but also not dry. FIA Formula E use mixed weather tyres, meaning that there is no tyre choice in different weather like is seen in other racing championships. Due to this, a damp track can be the most unpredictable in the FIA Formula E and tyre performance is controlled with tyre pressures.
DS PENSKE, Maximilian and his teammate agree to split the strategy of dry weather set up and wet weather set up with tyre pressures to give the team equal opportunity to optimise best on the weather conditions. Maximilian was on the dry set up, hoping that the rain clouds would part and the Miami circuit would dry to give him an advantage on his competitors.
Off the line, Maximilian found himself going backwards as those on the wet weather set up had the advantage. He tried everything he could, but there wasn’t enough grip to put a charge on the rest of the grid. As the weather never dried enough for Maximilian’s strategy to pay off, it was a lonely and quiet race to come across the line P19.
FIA Formula E takes on its first double header of the season next time out in Diriyah, taking place in a couple of weeks. Maximilian and DS PENSKE will be buoyed by the positive performance the DS E-TENSE FE25 showed in dry conditions. With two races over the weekend and the return of a Pit Boost race, there is a big opportunity for Maximilian to get himself right back in the championship battle, something he will be focused on achieving.
RESULTS
Free Practice 1 – P10, 55.922
Free Practice 2 – P17, 56.112
Qualifying – P10 (Group B, P5, 56.854)
Race – P19
Championship Standing – P12 (8 points)
Maximilian Günther:
“I would say in the dry, it would have been a very positive weekend. We had a very strong pace in free practice two, as well in qualifying. We underperformed a bit, unfortunately, in the group stage on my side. Just in the execution, something we didn’t do quite right. That’s why it was only a P5 in the group, but we very much understood what that was and knew the pace was clearly there. It’s good moving forwards to see how strong we are in dry conditions.
“Being on the wrong strategy is just part of the game, how it goes sometimes. We move on and learn from that. We took a gamble with the car and approach in general that didn’t work out, meaning that there was just no chance today of fighting in the points. When you optimise a car for certain conditions, and those conditions never materialise, it’s going to be a difficult race.
“I feel good looking ahead to the next round in Diriyah. Our first double header of the season and the return of Pit Boost to racing. There are good memories from last time out in Jeddah and it’s a great track. Big points on the table with the two races in the weekend and a great opportunity to bounce back.”