In qualifying, Sims struggled with the still slippery course in group 1 and, after three pole positions in a row, took the 15. Launch site. Günther made perfect use of the better track conditions in Group 3, made it into the Sizable Pole and secured second place there on the front row. Thus, for the fourth time in a row, a BMW vehicle was on the first row.
While Sims was involved in numerous tough duels in the middle of the field at the start of the race and ultimately had to give up after contact with the course limit, Günther was consistently in the High-3. Towards the end of the race, he benefited from the strong energy efficiency of his BMW iFE. 20 and the Group's excellent strategy. In the final lap he was able to overtake António Félix da Costa (POR) in an exciting duel and be the first to cross the finish line.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Group Motorsport Director): “The battle was an extraordinary achievement by both Maximilian Günther and the entire BMW i Andretti Motorsport team. It's unbelievable how mature and ripped off Maximilian drove for our team in his third Formula E race. He more than earned the first Formula E victory and the title of “youngest Formula E winner ever”. He and the team kept a cool head in the dramatic final phase and assessed the environment just right. We expected António to have cooling problems and that's exactly what happened. With the help of this assessment, Max was able to perform this fantastic overtaking maneuver in the last lap. Overall, after two wins and two pole positions in three races and first place in the team classification, we can of course be very satisfied with the start of the season. Alexander Sims had a tough imprint today, but he's still at the forefront. We now have two winning drivers in the drivers' standings, and with both of them we will fully attack again at the Mexico Metropolis E-Prix. ”
Roger Griffiths (Team Principal BMW i Andretti Motorsport, team ranking: 1st place): “When the finish line was passed, the cheering in the garage was deafening. Winning two races in a row and being in the lead in the team ranking feels damn good. I am very happy for Maximilian that after the disappointment in Diriyah when he subsequently lost his second place, he made it this time and was able to take his first win. Together with his racing engineer, he drove a very smart race. With the help of the keen ATTACK FASHION he was able to overtake Pascal Wehrlein and then with a spectacular maneuver Mitch Evans. Towards the end of the race, we saw that both Techeetah catch up quickly, but we always knew that we managed the environment well and that we had better control over the battery temperature. That worked out, as you saw at the end with António. “
Maximilian Günther (# 28 BMW iFE. 20, qualifying Result: 2nd place, race result: 1st place, points: 25, driver classification: 4th place): “Today a dream came true. I'm incredibly happy with the first win of my Formula E career here in Santiago. My qualifying battle with second place was already massive. After a not so good launch on the dirty side of the track, which cost me a space, we tactically used the ATTACK MODES very cleverly. This allowed me to take the lead. The heat was about keeping an eye on the battery temperature. America did a good job. In the last round, António had to cast a little earlier on the straight than I did. So I thought 'now or never' and tried the overtaking maneuver. Fortunately, it worked perfectly. ”
Alexander Sims (# 27 BMW iFE . 20, qualifying -Result: 15. Place, race result: failure, points: 35, Driver classification: 2nd place): “First of all, I'm incredibly happy for Maximilian and the team. Max already had an excellent qualifying session and he and the team did everything right in the race. I also had a good pace in the training sessions, but then I couldn't do much in qualifying group one. The first laps of my race were pretty good. We had typical Formula E racing in midfield: tough but good. I then lightly touched the wall, but damaged my vehicle so badly that I had to end the race. So the end result is of course disappointing. ”
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