Edoardo Mortara fought valiantly at the Diriyah E-Prix double-header to claim his and Maserati MSG Racing‘s first points of the season, in what was an incredibly challenging weekend for the Monte-Carlo based team.
Mortara endured completely different fortunes in rounds two and three of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with the first full day at the Riyadh Street Circuit having been one to forget. During qualifying ahead of race one in Saudi Arabia, Mortara went slightly wide on entry to Turn Seventeen, sending his Maserati Tipo Folgore onto the dusty part of the track. As a result, he lost the rear which made heavy contact with the wall on the outside of the corner, bringing his qualifying to an abrupt end.
It left the Maserati mechanics with a huge task on their hands, something they already had following a prior incident. Remarkably, the team managed to get Mortara’s car fixed before the first race; however, it ended in retirement for the Swiss driver following a late puncture. Spurred on by the team’s heroics ahead of Race One, Mortara performed considerably better on the Saturday, where he made it into the duels in qualifying. This put Mortara in an excellent position come the second race of the weekend to claim some points, something he did after finishing ninth.
It marked a positive end to what was an incredibly difficult weekend; however, after finally scoring points following back-to-back retirements, perhaps things are finally looking up for Mortara and Maserati.
“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.”
“We’re a strong team and we need to keep pushing” – Maximilian Günther
As mentioned, the team already had a challenge on their hands prior to Mortara’s collision with the wall at Turn Seventeen, as moments before that Maximilian Günther crashed heavily at Turn Seven, destroying the front-right of his Maserati. It was a weekend to forget for the German, who’s crash in qualifying resulted in a red flag, after hitting the barrier fairly hard.
It appeared that Günther simply carried too much speed into the corner, resulting in both front-wheels locking-up when he suddenly braked heavily for the corner. As a result of the damage caused to his car’s front-right and its chassis, Günther was forced to miss the first race. The team’s mechanics battled on through the night to ensure that Günther had a car to drive on Saturday, something they miraculously did. Unfortunately, Günther was unable to thank his mechanics with a points finish, after finishing nineteenth in the second race.
Overall, a “very difficult weekend” for Günther in particular, with the German having been quick to hail the “fantastic job” that his team did, given that they effectively built an entirely new car.
“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.”
