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Maserati MSG Racing’s 2023 visit to Berlin will always be remembered in motor racing history.
When Maximilian Günther took the chequered flag on Saturday, the local hero scored the Maserati brand’s first World Championship single-seater podium in 66 years.
The last driver to achieve this was Formula One royalty, Juan Manuel Fangio, at the 1957 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.
Using insights from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, our Team Principal, James Rossiter, reflects on our return to Germany and debriefs a weekend marked by points, podiums, and outright pride.
“Berlin was a great weekend for the team, and it was great to visit the podium for the first time this season,” reflects James.
“2023 has been tough on all of us, but at every stage we knew that we had the pace to fight at the front– it was just a case of delivering a mistake free weekend and this remained our focus throughout.
“Our running in practice was encouraging, and it indicated that we were in the mix and the team did an incredible job to put us in a good position to fight.
“Because of the high energy sensitivity and the benefit of the slipstream, we saw a lot of overtaking in both races, and this meant that it was possible to come back well, even if qualifying was disappointing.
“It was just about putting our drivers in the right position, at the right time, to fight for the top positions, which is something the team executed well.”
From eighth and 11th on the grid, both Edoardo Mortara and Maximilian Günther rallied on Saturday, with the duo leading laps at various stages and securing our first double points finish of 2023.
“Edo and Max led the race at various stages, but unfortunately for Edo, a change in his balance impacted the second half of his race quite heavily,” continues James.
“In that context, it’s important to understand that this doesn’t just impact how the car handles – it also changes energy consumption and efficiency.
“But he did a very good job to hold on to take ninth at the flag.
“After coming so close on multiple occasions this season, we knew that it was only a matter of time before Max achieved a big result, and that happened at the perfect time this weekend, in front of his home crowd.
“His battle with Seb [Buemi] was extremely intense and seeing him on the podium made us all very proud. It was a much-needed injection of energy after a difficult run recently.
“By finishing in the top three, Max also scored the Maserati’s brand’s first podium in 66 years, which is a very special piece of history for him to hold and own.”
Rain on Sunday morning created a day of two halves for Race Two, with practice and qualifying taking place in wet conditions and the E-Prix in dry, creating another unpredictable day in Berlin.
“Sunday was very different to Saturday, and this came down to the changes we saw in the weather,” explains James.
“FP3 was our first wet running of the season, and we struggled to overcome some understeer which showed in qualifying.
“If the circuit hadn’t dried out, we would have been looking at a less energy intensive race, but the fact that it did dry out played to our advantage.
“Thanks to real-time data-led insights from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which allowed us to examine our race on Saturday effectively and efficiently, we came up with a very intelligent strategy overnight. Edo and Max did a great job in executing that.
“Edo was in a very good position after underconsuming in the first part of the race, but unfortunately there was a big stack in front of him and he had nowhere to go.
“The front wing damage and pitstop effectively ended his race, and then left Max as our only runner.
“Using the same strategy, he rocketed through the field and gained 15 positions to finish sixth at the flag, which is an amazing achievement.
“With the fastest lap too, we were able to bring home 26 points home from this weekend, which has moved us up to seventh in the World Teams’ Championship.”
Formula E next heads to Monaco – Maserati MSG Racing’s home event – and ahead of the crown jewel race of Formula E, morale in the team is at an all-time high.
“A large portion of motorsport is momentum-driven, and with our home race in Monaco coming up next week, we can approach the event in good form and in high spirits,” adds James.
“I can’t express how proud I am to work with such a brilliant group of people, and it shows what hard work can do. But at this stage of the campaign, we can’t take anything for granted.
“We need to maintain our approach and keep working so we can hopefully be in this position for every race weekend moving forwards.”
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