FIA Formula E

Maximilian Günther rockets to well-earned victory in second Jakarta E-Prix

Andrew Rickert

Jun 4, 2023 — 3 min read

Maximilian Günther won the battle for position in the early stages of the second Jakarta E-Prix to run off with victory and complete his dominance of the weekend in Indonesia.

Maximilian Günther celebrates on the podium in Jakarta. *(LAT Images / Formula E)*

The German took his first FIA Formula E World Championship victory since 2020, with Maserati taking their first victory in open-wheel racing since Juan Manuel Fangio’s famous victory in the 1957 German Grand Prix.

“I'm over the moon with this victory,” said Günther .

“Yesterday was great, another podium." There's still good progress over the past couple of races. It's fantastic. And yeah, being my first win here in Jakarta is the outstanding and I'm just happy.”

“I felt really good from FP1 onward, so I knew the package is working here. It was just about executing it and keep tuning in the right direction. “We always took the right decisions this weekend and yeah, yesterday we didn't have enough, today we did, and it's just amazing.”

Maximilian Günther leads the pack at the start of the second Jakarta E-Prix. *(Simon Galloway / Formula E)*

Günther rounds out the weekend in dominant form, taking pole position for both E-Prix and finishing on the podium in the opening race.

The Maserati MSG Racing driver led away from pole ahead of Jake Dennis, who had to defend from Mitch Evans and Stoffel Vandoorne into turn one.

Rookie David Beckmann was out in the early stages after contact with Lucas Di Grassi, while at the front Mitch Evans was up into second and Edoardo Mortara into fourth ahead of Sacha Fenestraz with simultaneous moves at the hairpin.

Championship leader Nick Cassidy went into the E-Prix with a two-point lead over Pascal Wehrlein and made a disastrous attempt to pass the German on lap 19, clipping the rear of his Porsche and dislodging his front wing.

The battle was on between the top four as the race evolved into the peloton-style racing that has taken over in this season of Formula E, with Guenther and Evans going wheel-to-wheel for the lead before the quartet leapfrogged each other through the Attack Mode activation zone.

The Kiwi was the last into Attack Mode of the group and down to third behind Guenther and Dennis as the leaders began to pull away.

Günther held a lead of 2.8 seconds ahead of Dennis, with Evans a further 3.7 seconds behind and holding up the chasing pack.

Maximilian Günther celebrates his victory in Jakarta. *(Sam Bagnall / Formula E)*

Fenestraz made a bold move past Vandoorne and as the DS Penske driver lost track position in defence, he lost another position as Norman Nato went through. The two Nissan teammates Fenestraz and Nato emerged on the other side of Vandoorne and went wheel-to-wheel in the battle for fourth, with Fenestraz on top.

Championship contender Pascal Wehrlein was the next past Vandoorne, who fell from fourth to seventh in half a lap.

At the front, Günther was unchallenged, taking victory ahead of Dennis as Evans held on for the final podium position.

Wehrlein was sixth and into the lead of the championship on 134 points, just one point ahead of Jake Dennis, who jumps up to second after a run of four consecutive podium finishes.

Cassidy is down to third on 128 points after entering the race in the lead of the standings, with fellow Kiwi Mitch Evans in fourth on 109 points.

With five rounds remaining across three circuits, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship returns June 24 in Portland, Oregon.

2023 FIA Formula E World Championship - Round 11 Jakarta E-Prix Result