Saturday’s winner Maximilian Günther fights back strongly after bad luck in qualifying. 12.07.2021: One day after his first win of the season in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Maximilian Günther (GER) made an impressive recovery in the Sunday race at the New York City E-Prix (USA).

One day after his first win of the season in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Maximilian Günther (GER) made an impressive recovery in the Sunday race at the New York City E-Prix (USA).



Rain in qualifying meant he had to start from 23rd on the grid. However, clever strategy and good energy management allowed him to gradually work his way through the field until he eventually climbed into tenth place on the final lap. He was rewarded for his fighting spirit with one point in the Drivers’ Championship.



 Like Günther, Jake Dennis (GBR) also suffered from the fact that it started to rain lightly during qualifying group two, preventing him from setting a fast time. As a result, he also had to start from near the back of the grid and ultimately crossed the finish line in 16th place.

 

Starting his recovery from the back of the field, Günther initially saved energy to use it later on in the race. That worked out well for him, and he climbed into the top ten on the final lap, as a number of drivers were powerless to stop him passing them, thanks to the fact that he had more energy at his disposal. Dennis started the race from 19th and quickly improved to 13th.



However, he fell back down the field because he missed the activation zone for the attack mode, costing him a lot of time. He eventually had to settle for 16th place. Günther and Dennis are now 14th and 15th in the Drivers’ Championship, each with 54 points. BMW i Andretti Motorsport lies sixth in the Team competition with 108 points.


 

Races 12 and 13 of the season take place in London (GBR) on 24th and 25th July.

 

Reactions to Race 11 in New York.

 

Roger Griffiths (BMW i Andretti Motorsport Team Principal, team standings: 6th place):


“After yesterday’s success this was a disappointing day for us. It all resulted from the misfortune we had in qualifying with the rain. Anyway, we tried to make the best of it. With Jake we had a slightly more aggressive strategy than we had with Maximilian’s car.



That was paying off when he had a good start and passed a couple of drivers ahead of him. Unfortunately, after he had missed the loops of the attack zone we were on the backfoot. With Maximilian it was more of a game of patience. We slowly made our way through the field saving a lot of energy. Then we took our chances where we could and ended up finishing in P10. A great recovery drive from Maximilian – and who knows? This one point can make a huge difference at the end of the season.”

 


Jake Dennis (#27 BMW iFE.21, starting position: 19th place, race result: 16th place, points: 54, driver standings: 15th place):

“A difficult race after an unfortunate qualifying with the rain coming down just as we went on track. In the race I was looking strong and made up a few places at the start. But then I missed the attack zone, which basically compromised our whole race. Nothing more I could do. After that, the race was more or less finished. Now I focus on my home races in London.”

 


Maximilian Günther (#28 BMW iFE.21, starting position: 23rd place, race result: 10th place, points: 54, driver standings: 14th place):


“It was fun to race my way into the points from the back of the field. Given the circumstances, I think we had an ideal race with a very good strategy. We saved a lot of energy at the start and then gradually worked our way towards the front. It is obviously very pleasing to have come away with a point. Thank you to the team for a great weekend.”

 


Benedikt Torka- photos BMW