Maserati successfully completes 1st Formula E race with Tipo Folgore Gen3

Despite encountering challenges, Maserati announced that the Tipo Forlgore Gen3 has successfully completed its first Formula E race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico.

Further, Tipo Folgore Gen3’s performance almost placed Maserati MSG Racing — the Trident brand’s Formula E team — in the top 10 spot.

“It was a difficult day but in motorsport, you learn the most from your bad days — not your good ones. A poor qualifying put us on the back foot, but in the race, we were able to come back strong, with Max fighting from 17th to 11th and finishing just outside the points. Edo was showing really strong pace during the race, and his incident in Turn One was unfortunate. It’s a shame as his pace was great. We have a lot to learn and there is a lot of data that we need to process from this weekend so that we can be in a better position for the next race in Diriyah,” said Maserati MSG Racing Team Principal James Rossiter.

With the advent of Gen3 cars, and their performance on the track, drivers Edoardo Mortara and Maximilian Günther gained invaluable insight during the Season 9 opener and showed promising initial pace following an encouraging pre-season test.

A challenging qualifying session saw both Mortara and Günther start on the grid in 16th and 17th place respectively. The Italian-French driver advanced to 15th place on the first lap by overtaking McLaren’s Rene Rast. However, Mortara was forced to retire on lap 18 after a snap of understeer reportedly caused an unfortunate spin and collision.

“This weekend wasn’t our best. After the pace we had in Valencia, I found it difficult to find a good rhythm in the car, especially over one lap. I managed to come back in the race and until the crash, I think we were in a good position, especially with our pace and on the energy side. I found it quite challenging to find a good balance on the tires, and a snap of oversteer caused me to go off in the first corner. Overall, there were few positives to take, but we will examine our data closely, understand what happened and come back for Diriyah,” Mortara remarked.

Now Maserati MSG Racing’s sole runner, the German driver made good progress to threaten for points in the closing laps and overtook DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne on the final tour to finish 11th.

“This weekend has been tough for us as a team. With the high altitude, it was quite difficult to get the tires into the sweet spot which impacted our pace in qualifying. Starting from the back, our pace in the race was much better and our efficiency and strategy proved to be competitive. I was able to move forward several places, but unfortunately, we were just short of the top 10. We’ve gained a lot of data from this weekend, and now, we just need to examine our performance, focus on our progress, and come back stronger in Riyadh,” commented Günther.

Maserati MSG Racing will return back to the track on January 27 and 28 at the Riyadh Street Circuit in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site of Diriyah.

Photos from Maserati

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