(Motorsport-Total.com) – With an attentive maneuver, Maximilian Günther (BMW-Andretti) moved from third to first place at Saturday’s Formula E race in New York City, then defended the lead and clinched his first win of the season. (Photos: Race 1 in the Formula E doubles in New York)
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First win of the season in 2021 for Maximilian Günther at the home game of the Andretti team
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Until seven minutes before the end of the race, which was scheduled for 45 minutes plus one lap as usual, Formula E rookie Nick Cassidy (Virgin), who started from pole, was in the lead, followed by ex-champion Jean-Eric Vergne (DS-Techeetah). When Vergne attacked in the hairpin, there was contact and Günther passed both of them.
“This overtaking maneuver was of course decisive, because overtaking was not easy,” said Günther, who thanked Vergne for opening the gap for him with his attack on Cassidy. This laid the foundation for a home win for Michael Andretti’s team.
While it is Günther’s first win of the season in 2021 and the third of his Formula E career (he won Santiago and Berlin in the 2019/20 season), it is the second win of the current season for BMW-Andretti. Günther’s team-mate Jake Dennis had triumphed in Valencia.
Behind Günther, Vergne finished second. Audi driver Lucas di Grassi also finished third on the podium. However, the pole setter and long-term leader Cassidy just missed this with P4.
Lynn with rocket launch, but brakes on Turn 1
At the start, pole setter Nick Cassidy got off very well. Alex Lynn (Mahindra) made up most of the positions in the first few meters. Having started from P6, he was in second place before the first corner, but braked. Cassidy turned into the first corner ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne and Sebastien Buemi (Nissan-e.dams).
Cassidy and Vergne quickly pulled away from Buemi and the pursuers. While the two were in close contact for laps, Maximilian Günther managed to take over the third position from Buemi. As a result, the Swiss fell further behind. Lucas di Grassi, his own team-mate Oliver Rowland and Robin Frijns (Virgin) also passed the Swiss player before half-time.
In the second half of the race Günther and di Grassi caught up with the leading duo Cassidy and Vergne directly behind him. Ten minutes before the end of the distance, four drivers drove front wing to tail fin.
Seven minutes before the end, Vergne sat in the Manhattan hairpin (turn 10) inside next to Cassidy. He passed with contact, but got out of the curve badly. Inside, Günther stabbed both of them and took the lead. On this occasion, Di Grassi slipped between Vergne and Cassidy, who also had to let di Grassi go on the last lap.
Behind the top 4 Günther, Vergne, di Grassi, Cassidy, the top 5 were rounded off by Frijns. Buemi remained P6 ahead of Rowland, followed by Andre Lotterer (Porsche), Sam Bird (Jaguar) and Rene Rast (Audi).
Tie at the top of the table
Edoardo Mortara, who headed the standings, had to struggle with a technical problem in qualifying (qualifying boost not available) and started from the back row. From there, he couldn’t get more than 14th place – no points.
Robin Frijns, who finished in P5, is now level on points with Mortara at the top of the table. Third is Vergne, who is four points behind after finishing second.
Günther’s BMW-Andretti team-mate Jake Dennis, for whom it was too tight in the hard-fought midfield, did not finish. Also dropped out: Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes), Alexander Sims (Mahindra), Mitch Evans (Jaguar) as well as Oliver Turvey (NIO) and Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), who parked at the pits.
The second race on the Brooklyn Street Circuit in New York will take place three hours earlier on Sunday than the Saturday race. The start is at 1:30 p.m. local time (7:30 p.m. CEST).
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