A steep learning curve in Monaco as Maserati MSG Racing looks ahead to Round 7.
NUMBERS
Stoffel Vandoorne
Free Practice One // P20
Free Practice Two // P19
Qualifying // P13 [1:29.219, P7 Group B]
Race // P9
Positions Gained // 4
Fastest Lap // 1:28.777
Championship Position // P14 [18 points]
Jake Hughes
Free Practice One // P9
Free Practice Two // P11
Qualifying // P21 [1:29.492, P11 Group B]
Race // P17
Positions Gained // 4
Fastest Lap // 1:29.940
Championship Position // P9 [27 points]
Maserati MSG Racing
Championship Position // P7 [45 points]
The first race of the Monaco E-Prix double header was not the kick start to the weekend Maserati MSG Racing had been looking for, but it gave the team plenty of useful data and learnings ahead of the second race at the iconic track tomorrow.
Stoffel Vandoorne did well to come back from a difficult start to the day with a minor issue setting his side of the garage behind schedule during FP2. It meant the Belgian went into Group Qualifying with less data than most, still working on fine tuning the set up of his Maserati Tipo Folgore.
Getting the Hankook tyres in the perfect operating temperature was a struggle for both Maserati MSG Racing drivers, with neither of them able to put together the perfect lap in Group B. They gave it their all, but the cold tyres left too much on the track to let Jake or Stoffel progress into the duels.
Starting outside the top eight, the team had to shift their race strategy. The E-Prix would be all about moving through the field efficiently, trying to replicate Jake’s perfect strategy from Miami; save energy at the start and have the advantage at the end.
With multiple incidents that brought out the full course yellows, both Jake and Stoffel were lucky to get through them with minimum incident. Jake lost part of his front wing due to light contact with Lola’s Maloney, but both cars continued.
It looked like Jake’s energy retention strategy might have worked out for him as it was looking to in Miami, moving to third in the field with one six-minute Attack Mode left to use. But as the grid shuffled through their stops and the race neutralised, he fell back down to P17. He raced hard in the last few laps of the race, using his six minutes of Attack Mode to good effect, but the gap to the cars in front was too big for him to climb back into the points.
Stoffel had the reverse Attack Mode strategy, using his six-minute blast in the earlier stage of the race and leaving him with two minutes for the last few laps. He was able to get back into the points, securing P9 for the team on the line, but the whole team ended the race feeling like there was more on offer today.
Maserati MSG Racing will regroup and study what has been learnt from this first race in Monaco, ready to come back fighting tomorrow.
QUOTES
Jake Hughes, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing: “It was a tricky day. I don’t think anyone was particularly enthralled with what happened in the race, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. We need to understand what went wrong today. It seems to be a reoccurring issue – a mixture of tyres and brakes, mixture of how the way the tyre is behaving on the track with the way the track grip is and the way the temperature of the tyre wants to be. In Jeddah we did not have this combination of issue, Mexico neither, but in Brazil, Mami, here we have a mixture of the same issue. Hopefully we will have some answers for tomorrow.
Stoffel Vandoorne, Driver, Maserati MSG Racing: “We got ninth, so I think from how the day has evolved for us, from where we came from, to get a couple of points was good. We’ve been struggling in qualifying all season. Starting 13th, it was all about getting something out of it. It was a chaotic race, so much to take in with the Attack Modes, Pit Boost, how to deploy energy. We got unlucky in a couple of incidents, but we still finished in the points. We’ll take that today and hopefully tomorrow we will come back stronger.”
Cyril Blais, Team Principal, Maserati MSG Racing: “Qualifying is where we have to work on for tomorrow because we started too far back. That’s the first point to address. As for the race, we maximised what we had. Stoffel started P13, finished P9, so it’s not a lot but still some points. For Jake, starting at the back in a race that was not energy sensitive and included the Pit Boost, it was going to be difficult. There is a lot to address; this is our home race and it’s not what we wanted to show. We’ll have to look deep into the data tonight and work with the drivers and the rest of the team to make sure we show better performance tomorrow.”
Maria Conti, Head of Maserati Corse: “It’s been an intense day today. Monaco holds a special place in our hearts, not only because of its iconic track, but also because of Maserati’s wealth of heritage on these roads, with iconic victories such as those in Formula 1 in 1948, 1956 and 1957. It was a day of firsts today: the first time a double header has taken place in the team’s home race and the first time the extraordinary Maserati cars have paraded on the most famous street circuit in the world. We have started the countdown to 2026, when we will celebrate a century of the Trident in racing. Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Hughes at the wheel of the Maserati Tipo Folgore showed determination and pride, and it was a shame they didn’t manage to score the points they had hoped for. Tomorrow, we will have the opportunity to redeem ourselves: we can’t wait to line up on the starting grid.”
Maserati S.p.A.
Maserati produces a complete range of unique cars, immediately recognisable for their extraordinary personality. Thanks to their style, technology, and innately exclusive character, they delight the most discerning, demanding tastes and have always been a benchmark for the global automotive industry. A tradition of successful cars, each of them redefining what makes an Italian sports car in terms of design, performance, comfort, elegance and safety, currently available in more than 70 markets internationally.
The Maserati line-up includes the Grecale, the “everyday exceptional” SUV, the GranTurismo, the iconic Italian grand tourer, and the GranCabrio, the Trident’s new convertible; all models characterised by the use of the highest quality materials and outstanding technical solutions. A range equipped with 4-cylinder hybrid powertrains – available for Grecale – and V6 petrol, with rear-wheel and four-wheel drive, embodying the performance DNA of the Trident brand. The top of the range is made up of the MC20 super sports car and the MC20 Cielo spyder, powered by the ground-breaking 100% Maserati Nettuno V6 engine, which incorporates F1-derived technologies into the power unit of a standard production car for the first time. The GranTurismo is available with both the high-performance V6 petrol engine, derived from the Nettuno, and a 100% electric version: the GranTurismo Folgore, the first car in the Modena-based brand’s history to adopt this solution. The full-electric range also currently includes the Grecale Folgore, Maserati’s first 100% electric SUV, and the GranCabrio Folgore. Finally, the House of the Trident’s latest addition is the Maserati GT2 Stradale, the road-legal version of the GT2 that took Maserati back to the track in closed-wheel championships. The heart of the new super sports car is the V6 Nettuno engine, reaching 640 hp (471 kW) in the latter configuration. The GT2 Stradale is therefore the most powerful road-going Maserati with an internal combustion engine.
The mission at Maserati is to write the future of mobility in the luxury segment, focusing on its customers’ requests. That mission continues to this day, looking ahead to the future and taking Italian luxury all over the world, with Maserati forming part of the Stellantis “Dare Forward 2030” strategic plan.