Maserati’s Stoffel Vandoorne felt that the track conditions were “unacceptable” by Formula E standards due to the high amount of dust offline.
Both Maserati cars suffered technical failures during the race, which the team has yet to fully understand. However, Vandoorne, who lost his brakes before crashing into the wall, felt that the track conditions were not suitable for a World Championship event.
“The track conditions were kind of unacceptable for Formula E,” stated Vandoorne after the race. “There was so much dust on the track. It was a very hard situation to manage, and you could see all of us struggling, so something needs to be done to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
Vandoorne went on to explain what happened when his race was cut short.
“It was a difficult weekend, ending with an unfortunate DNF in the race with a big crash. I don’t know exactly what happened, but we had a lot of alarms on the dash, and we lost the brakes.
“The brake pedal went to the floor, and I had a big frontal impact. Fortunately, I feel OK, so that’s a good thing. But it was a difficult weekend all round—tricky conditions to manage, and we didn’t have the pace at the right time.”
It was also a disappointing race for Jake Hughes, who came to a stop at Turn 1. Hughes doesn’t know why he stopped but felt there was potential in the car.
“It was a disappointing end to the weekend,” stated Hughes. “Both cars not finishing the race is never good to see, but it was a shame because I think we had good pace today. In all conditions—topping FP2 in the wet, and in the dry I was one corner away from getting into the duels.
“OK, it’s ifs, buts and maybes, but it shows the potential of the car that the team gave me. In the race, starting where we did and on the strategy we were on, we knew we’d be biasing towards the second half of the race. Before we had a chance to get there and see our strategy in full action, we broke down. We have to understand what happened.”
Cyril Blais, Team Principal of Maserati, added: “Both cars not finishing the race is never something we want, especially after all the hard work put in by everyone for this incredibly physically demanding race. To say it’s a real disappointment is an understatement. We need to fully analyse what went wrong this weekend. We will take the time before Berlin, regroup, and get to a stronger place ahead of the final two double-headers of the season.”
