Maximilian Gunther has said that his confiscated podium finish at the Diriyah E-Prix still shows the competitive pace of BMW’s Season 6 Formula E car.
In the second race of the double-header event in Diriyah, Gunther provisionally took second to complete a 1-2 result for the BMW i Andretti Motorsport team as Alexander Sims took the win.
Post-race, it was found that the 22-year-old German had illegally overtaken Lucas di Grassi and Stoffel Vandoorne behind the safety car, with this handing the driver a 24-second time penalty, demoting him to 11th in the final classification.
Despite leaving Diriyah without any points, Gunther remains confident, with his pace in the second race of Season 6 showing the overall pace of BMW’s iFE.20 package:
“Naturally, it is tough to be awarded a penalty like that retrospectively,” said Gunther. “The situation at the restart after the safety car period was unclear and it was frantic.
“Stoffel Vandoorne obviously made a quick decision to drive into the attack zone, which saw me come into contact with him slightly and damage the front of my car.
“Also, I was already alongside him at that point, and from my perspective, there was no turning back. The action was unfortunate and I had hoped that it would be okay.
“The race officials saw things differently. I have to accept this decision.
“What remains is the fact that I drove a strong race and have the speed to finish on the podium.
“I will build on this as the season progresses. Congratulations to Alexander on his win. It’s a huge success for the team.
“Many thanks to everyone who made this strong performance possible – both here at the track and at BMW in Munich.”
