A slow-burner of a contest delivered the fifth different winner in as many races on Formula E’s first visit to the land of the rising sun
STEFAN MACKLEY
For more than a decade Formula E had attempted to stage a race in Tokyo, and that dream finally became a reality last weekend when the all-electric championship set up shop in the most populous city in the world. The patience of the sell-out crowd was pushed a little further in the race, with the inaugural contest a slow burner that only came to fruition in the final stages, when Maximilian Guenther and his Maserati MSG team put on a strategic masterclass that got the better of Oliver Rowland and home favourite Nissan.
Prior to the event Guenther had finished in the points across all four races in 2024, but none had resulted in a podium. Yet a remarkable climb through the order at the previous round in Sao Paulo, where he finished ninth after serving a 10-second stop/go penalty, hinted at a package capable of challenging for outright honours when presented with the right opportunity.
A talking point ahead of the event had been how difficult it would be to overtake around the 20-turn, 1.6-mile street circuit located in Tokyo’s dockside Big Sight area, with little in the way of long straights or heavy braking zones. That proved to be the case, and track position became the key to strategy. That meant that, unlike previous races this season, both Attack Modes were not taken at the earliest opportunity.
Rowland initially maintained his advantage from pole while Guenther lost out to Edoardo Mortara, who from third got a better launch off the cleaner and grippier side of the grid and even briefly challenged for the lead into Turn 1. With the Mahindra driver having excelled in qualifying, but with no points on the board this season, it was reasonable to assume that he would gradually slip back as the race developed, and that proved to be the case.
With that in mind, Guenther was keen to move back ahead and launched his first serious attempt on lap 10, the order across the top half of the field having remained almost entirely static up to that point. As Mortara went defensive into the tight Turn 6 right-hander, the loss of momentum gave Rowland a small gap for the first time, which come the next lap was enough for him to take his first Attack Mode and still retain the lead.
By now Guenther had moved into se
