Maserati MSG Racing has confirmed Edoardo Mortara and Maximilian Guenther as its driver line-up for Season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Mortara extends his relationship with the outfit as Maserati joins the fold for Gen3, while Guenther makes the move after stints at Dragon, BMW/Andretti and Nissan. The former put himself in the picture for Drivers' World Championship honours in both Season 7 and Season 8, and spearheaded the team to second in the Teams' standings and its best points-haul to-date in Formula E, under its prior Venturi guise.
The Swiss-Italian took the title fight to the finale for the second season in a row, finishing runner-up last time out with four wins; in Diriyah, Berlin, Marrakesh and Seoul. That tally was an unbeaten high but a sticky patch – non scores in London and the Seoul opener – gave eventual champion Stoffel Vandoorne the edge, despite Mortara's victory in the final race of the Gen2 era in South Korea. A second season spent right at the sharp end, and a tally of six career wins and 13 podiums in the series illustrate just why the team needed no second invitation to retain the 35-year-old's services.
Mortara: 'An honour to represent Maserati'
"Since joining in Season 4, the team has become home for me and I’m really happy to continue my journey with such a collection of hard working and talented individuals into Season 9 and beyond," says Mortara.
"The past five seasons have been some of the best of my career ... and I’m looking forward to building upon our current success together in Gen3. As a Swiss-Italian, representing the Maserati brand in their return to international motorsport will be a great honour.
"I’m also looking forward to working with Max who has already shown promise as a Formula E driver. As the reigning Vice-World Champions, it’s a great time to be joining the team and I think Max and I will make a strong team as we take on the championship together.”
Guenther on-board
Joining Mortara is Formula E's youngest race winner Maximilian Guenther, who will set about his fifth season in the championship. The 25-year-old has three wins to his name and Maserati MSG Racing sees the German as "the future of Formula E and one of motorsport's most promising talents".
Guenther has crossed paths with Mortara as far back as 2016, and sees the pair's analytical approach as a collective strength.
“I’m very proud to be joining the Maserati MSG Racing family alongside Edo ahead of Season 9," says Guenther. "I have a lot of admiration for the team and their achievements in recent seasons - they have been tough to beat and fully deserve their current status as Vice-World Champions.
"To be part of the Maserati brand’s return to racing in partnership with MSG Racing is a huge honour for me and I‘m looking forward to building something very strong together.
"I first met Edo back in 2016 and we have similar values when it comes to racing – we’re both very detail orientated and driven for success. We have always had a great relationship on and off the track, based on mutual respect. I believe we’ll make a formidable team and I know that we will work hard together to ensure we extract the maximum performance together with the team. I can't wait to get this exciting journey started."
Rossiter: 'Strong start to a new era'
“Season 9 marks an exciting new era for Formula E and I’m delighted to extend our existing relationship with Edo, and welcome Max to the team," says new Team Principal James Rossiter, who has joined the outfit over the off-season from DS TECHEETAH.
"Edo has been a cornerstone of our operation since 2017 and, ahead of his sixth season, he’s undoubtedly one of the best drivers on the grid. We’re very excited to see him be partnered by Max who is an exceptional young talent with immense promise and potential. In this pairing, we have a very strong driver lineup for Gen3, and we intend to be in a position to fight at the very front. We have exciting times ahead.”
“As Maserati heads back to racing we’re delighted to welcome Max and Edo into the Trident family for Season 9 in what is set to be an exciting and electrifying new era in Formula E," adds Giovanni Tommaso Sgro, Head of Maserati Corse.
"We’re proud to be back on track where we belong, powered by passion and innovative by nature. In the race for performance, we’ll be taking Maserati forward as we charge on the streets of the world’s most iconic cities.
"Formula E is more than just a racing series, for us, it’s a competitive platform bringing new technologies to accelerate the development of high efficiency electrified powertrains and intelligent software for our sport road cars. And, as the first Italian brand to join, we’re looking forward setting in motion our full-electric Folgore strategy.”