"Brake pedal completely failed" - Max Günther explains painful home race that could have ended on the podium

Max Günther drove a mostly inconspicuous Formula E home race in Berlin on Sunday - but only because technology threw a spanner in the works. Five laps before the end of the race, the German DS driver suddenly disappeared from the radar because a faulty front motor forced him to retire. Otherwise, second place might have been possible.

Günther had already been in good form on Saturday. He finished sixth from fifth on the grid and scored eight championship points. Due to a red flag in qualifying and a grid penalty, he only started 13th on Sunday and therefore pursued a different approach: "Our strategy was to save a lot of energy and wait a long time with the first Attack Mode", Günther explains at e-Formula.news.

Race winner Nick Cassidy, who followed the same strategy as Günther, proved that this approach could have led to success. The German was actually in a good position on lap 31 and picked up his first Attack Mode late as planned.

"Everything went perfectly. Nick (Cassidy) and I drove through the Attack Zone together, and then after half a lap my front powertrain broke. I suddenly lost the brakes and the regen capability", reports Günther. There was no external contact. "Simply a technical defect - and unfortunately not the first time this year."

"Podium was very, very realistic"

The consequence: "I didn't have my four-wheel drive, so no power at the front, and no more energy recovery", explains Günther. "Also, the brakes overheat and you use almost twice as much energy without the regen. And of course you also lose grip. That is the main reason why we are so fast this year with Attack Mode. Then you're lost."

Despite the technical problems, Günther drove up to 6th place - without all-wheel drive! - by utilising his energy advantage. "But then it became really dangerous, because I completely lost the brake pedal a few times. That was not so cool." On lap 36 of 41, Günther had to retire from the race for safety reasons.

"That was a real shame," he said, visibly disappointed. "Our race today was really outstanding, which is why it hurts so much. Our position today was actually behind Nick (Cassidy, later race winner). The podium was very, very realistic. Everything was on a silver platter, and then something like this happens."

"Good race only recognisable at the very end"

With a view to the fans, he is also annoyed about the missed opportunity and the fact that hardly anyone in the grandstands actually noticed his strong race: "From the outside, you often can't really tell who is actually having a good race and who is having a bad one. You only really see it at the very end." In his case, however, it didn't come to that.

Nevertheless, he is delighted with the "incredible" support at his home E-Prix: "We had terrible weather and there were so many fans in the autograph session and in the grandstands. I very much appreciate that. A big thank you to everyone who came despite the capricious weather"