Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Günther executed a strong recovery drive in the second part of the double-header 2024 Diriyah E-Prix, with the 26-year-old battling from 11th to ninth at the Riyadh Street Circuit.
Following a competitive showing in Race One on Friday night, in which Max finished seventh, the Monaco-based team refined its package further ahead of Saturday with the hope of extracting more pace at the Saudi venue.
After placing third in FP3, Max narrowly missed on the qualifying duels from Group A while rookie team-mate, Jehan Daruvala, secured his first duel appearance in Formula E by advancing to the Quarter-Finals from Group B.
Jehan faced Nissan’s Oliver Rowland in his head-to-head, but despite losing out to the eventual polesitter, delivered a performance worthy of fifth on the grid. Max, meanwhile, qualified 12th but started from 11th.
In a hotly contested opening lap, both Max and Jehan unfortunately lost ground but quickly settled into the race’s rhythm which, due to low energy sensitivity, saw limited energy saving throughout the field.
By taking advantage of track action ahead, Max quickly fought forward into the top 10 while Jehan continued to hold his own in the points-paying positions in only his third Formula E race start.
Unfortunately, a technical issue for Jehan forced the 25-year-old to retire on lap 27 of 36, leaving Max as Maserati MSG Racing’s sole runner.
Holding ninth, yet pressuring two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne, Max remained in contention up to the line and took the chequered flag to score two points, taking eight from the weekend as a whole.
Formula E’s 10th season will resume on March 16 as the series returns to São Paulo, Brazil, for the fourth of 16 races in 2024.
The Race in Numbers
Maximilian Günther
Free Practice Three // P3
Qualifying // P12 [1:10.993, Group A]
Race // P9
Positions Gained // +3
Fastest Lap //1:11.089
Championship Position // P5 [20 points]
Jehan Daruvala
Free Practice Three // P13
Qualifying // P5 [1:10.786, Quarter-Final Four]
Race // DNF
Positions Gained // N/A
Fastest Lap // 1:11.136
Championship Position // P20 [0 points]
Maserati MSG Racing
Championship Position // P8 [20 points]
