Maximilian Gunther has described his Jakarta E-Prix victory as one of the proudest moments of his career after steering Maserati to the top step of the podium in the single-seater category for the first time since 1957.
The Maserati MSG Racing driver sealed his first win of this season’s ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in the second race of the Jakarta E-Prix doubleheader earlier this month. It was his first for Maserati after Juan Manuel Fangio won the Formula One German Grand Prix 66 years ago.
The next race will take place in Portland on June 24.
The 25-year-old Gunther, who started on pole, said it was a great feeling to end Maserati’s long wait.
“It was a big weekend and very happy with what I achieved in Jakarta,” he said. “The momentum changed a few weekends ago at Berlin and everything was coming together. We had some good testing sessions in-between the races and from Berlin we started becoming really competitive. It was great to continue this progress and I hope we can maintain this form for the rest of the season.”
He added: “It was a very proud moment for me and for Maserati, and to listen to my name said in the same sentence as Juan Fangio — race A winner for Maserati — is a great feeling.”
Meanwhile, Jakarta E-Prix race one winner Pascal Wehrlein admits he would need to keep up the consistency in scoring points if he wants to become world champion.
The 28-year-old German holds a one-point advantage ahead of second-placed Jake Dennis in the drivers’ standings with five more races go, including stops in Portland, Rome and London. It was his third win of the season following his double triumph at the Diriyah E-Prix in January.
He said: “I think consistency in scoring points is very important. I feel sixth and seventh places are not enough to fight for the championship so definitely scoring points in the top three and five is where I need to be. Having a couple of race wins would obviously help us take a bigger step forward so I’m glad we found our form back as this is where we need to be.
“Portland is a bit unknown as we don’t know the track but I’m looking forward to Rome as it’s one of my favorite tracks on the calendar. London will be very different from before with the Gen3 cars, so I’m looking forward to racing there.”
