Maro Engel and the Venturi Formula E Team have showed a lot of promise in Season 4. With some remarkable consistency, the German driver has had some convincing performances this season, with his immense ability not really being reflected in the points table due to some harsh luck. Now entering the final two rounds of the season sitting in the 14th place of the Drivers Championship with an opportunity to score some good points in the following races, Maro speaks about his season in general, his exceptional fourth place finish in Paris, his viewpoint on the upcoming New York City ePrix and about the near future of Venturi Racing and Formula E as a whole.
Here’s a transcript of this exclusive interview for soumilarora.com of Venturi Racing Formula E Team’s Maro Engel.
Soumil: Maro, after a somewhat mediocre start to the season, you had a purple patch from Punta Del Este which included a season-best fourth place finish in Paris. What sparked this revelation?
Maro: It looks on paper that we’ve had a strong run from Punta Del Este until Berlin as it is visible in the points but to be honest, even the start of the season was very positive – we had a fourth place in Hong Kong which was unfortunately taken away, a seventh place in the second race in Hong Kong, then again a seventh place in Marrakesh which was taken away. So, I think if we would have been able to keep the points that we scored in Hong Kong and Marrakesh, things would look a lot healthier on paper.
Obviously, the points that we missed there are the ones that we miss on our account so its a shame. But, we have had a strong run from Punta Del Este to Paris and essentially, the whole year. As I said, we have a car that enables us to score points at every race and I think that nearly all the races we finished, we finished in the Top 10 and unfortunately due to some penalties and a race or two where we haven’t been able to finish in the points, we aren’t really where we are supposed to be in the points table. Overall though, we do have a good package which allows us to have really strong races.
Maro had a very strong weekend in Paris, finishing fourth in the race
Soumil: In Paris, you got to superpole and finished fourth in the race. What went right that weekend?
Maro: For sure, Paris was the strongest weekend we had! I loved the track – it was an amazing one to drive with a lot of technical and tight corners where a driver’s inputs and skill play a bigger role as compared to other tracks as there were no long straights there. That style of the track suited our car and we were able to do very well! In general, the tracks with tighter, twistier and a greater number of corners seem to suit us well and in the ones with longer straights, the going seems to get harder for us. But overall, it was a good race for everyone in the team and it was definitely my best result and performance of the season!
Soumil: Do you think that New York City is a track that suits your style and can one expect a strong showing from you and Venturi as a whole?
Maro: I’m hoping so, absolutely! I really enjoyed the track last year and we had really strong pace there. Unfortunately, a shutdown during qualifying for Race One hampered our progress but our car was really quick there; on Day Two we just missed out on Superpole by qualifying in sixth and although we were quite unlucky during the races, we learnt that our car was quite capable of performing well there. I’m hoping that we have such a strong pace this time around too and we will be looking to build on that and get two really strong results in the bag!
With Maro at the 2017 Hong Kong ePrix
Soumil: What is your take on the new, revamped race format for Season Five and do you think that it is one that drivers will enjoy as much as the fans?
Maro: Certainly! We need to have a definite extra element to keep the races exciting which the series is working on currently and I think we will only be able to fully see if its any good after the first few races have been run. It sounds like a very good and interesting idea and strategy will be very important from next season onward. I’m looking forward to see how it all plays out and without the biggest element of excitement that is the car swap, some alternative should be found out, something to replace this but as a whole, I’m looking forward to Season 5 and seeing how it pans out in the end!
Soumil: Now, on to the final question. Recently, Venturi appointed Susie Wolff as their new team principal. How do you think that this move will help the team grow?
Maro: I think its great news for Venturi! Susie brings in a lot of experience and I know her very well; I have been teammates with her in DTM and raced for many years alongside her at the Mercedes Benz AMG DTM Team. She has a wealth of experience with her and she also brings a lot of extra knowledge by being close to the Mercedes AMG Formula One Team with her husband, Toto Wolff running that operation. Overall, I think its a brilliant move for the team and that she will contribute a lot in taking Venturi to the next level!
Susie Wolff joins Venturi Formula E as their new Team Principal
Now, Maro shifts his focus to the double header weekend in New York City and with the opportunity to conclude the season on a high, Maro and the entire Venturi team will definitely be working hard to make the best of the final race weekend of the season!
Credits:
Venturi Formula E Team – https://www.venturi.com/venturi-gp-formula-e-championship/
Maro Engel – https://maroengel.com
ABB FIA Formula E – http://www.fiaformulae.com
