Maserati lands two familiar faces for their debut in Season 9 as the 2023 Formula E lineup nears completion with just one seat to go.
The Formula E grid is nearly set with Maserati’s confirmation of their driver duo for next season. The luxury brand car company is taking over operations of the ROKiT Venturi Formula E team, an operation which has continue to challenge at the top of the series. Inheriting a majority of their staff, it was expected Masterti would secure Edoardo Mortara who has challenged for the title in each of the last two seasons. So why such a long delay for the announcement?
Well, Maserati nearly had one of the best, if not the best, driver pairings on the grid for 2023. Season 7 Champion Nyck de Vries was set to join the team. Then of course the F1 Driver Market went into top gear, Alex Albon got appendicitis, and eventually, de Vries has secured a seat at AlphaTauri for next year. Back to the drawing board, and luckily for Maserati an experienced Formula E driver, who is still just 25, was available.
Mortara seems happy with his new team in regard to on-track performance and from a personal aspect.
“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. 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.”
Edoardo Mortara and Maximilian Günther. Helmets off. Take a good look before they race away in Season 9 @FIAFormulaE.#RACEBEYOND #BornOnTrack pic.twitter.com/wmMp4EuOFJ
— Maserati MSG Racing (@maseratimsg) November 3, 2022
After a difficult season with Nissan in 2022, Guenther looks forward to a new start,
“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.”
Mortara and Guenther’s Season 8
It was another standout year for Mortara that came up just short. He came 3rd in the Championship after winning in Diriyah, Berlin, Marrakesh, and the season finale in Seoul. Ultimately, three retirements and two finishes out the points in at the London E-Prix ended his title fight. Meanwhile, his future teammate will be happy to see the end of 2022. Gunther finished 19th in the Drivers’ Championship with just two finishes in the points.
Current Formula E Driver Lineup – Season 9
- ABT: Robin Frijns & Nico Muller
- Avalanche Andretti: Jake Dennis & Andre Lotterer
- DS Penske: Stoffel Vandoorne & Jean-Éric Vergne
- Envision: Nick Cassidy & Sebastien Buemi
- Jaguar: Mitch Evans & Sam Bird
- McLaren: Rene Rast & TBD
- Mahindra: Oliver Rowland & Lucas di Grassi
- Maserati: Edoardo Mortara & Maximilian Guenther
- NIO 333: Sergio Sette Camara & Dan Ticktum
- Nissan: Norman Nato & Sacha Fenestraz
- Porsche: Pascal Wehrlein & Antonio Felix da Costa
- Techeetah: TBD (both seats)
What’s Left Before Season 9?
Only two questions really remain for the 2023 Formula E grid. First, who will be in the second seat at McLaren? The current favorite is Formula 2’s Jake Hughes. But if the team opts for experience as they adjust not only to Formula E but the new Gen3 car, it could be Oliver Turvey. A huge swing in experience for McLaren, a rookie or a driver with 86 E-Prix.
The final question is will the grid have ten teams or eleven? It appears as though Techeetah will have to sit out Season 9 after DS patterned with Penske. A year out of the series and begin building toward re-entry in 2024. Expect a resolution on both of those questions in the next few weeks.
