Double interview with BMW i Andretti Motorsport drivers Maximilian Günther and Alexander Sims

Munich. While Season 6 of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship has been parked up since the Marrakesh E-Prix (MAR) at the end of February, the virtual season of the “ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge” has only just begun, with victory for #maximiliangunther (GER). Like their fellow Formula E Drivers, he and #alexandersims (GBR) are passing the race-free time with weekly eSports events. Despite this, everyone remains hopeful that they will be able to resume and complete the real season at some time in the foreseeable future. Season 6 had started well, with two pole positions and a win for Sims, while Günther had secured one victory and a second place. This has put them in third and fourth place respectively in the Drivers’ Championship, with #bmwiandrettimotorsport currently second in the Team standings. In a double interview, Günther and Sims discuss the start of the virtual Formula E season, their record in the real races held so far, the strengths of the team and car, and the prospects of a return to the racetrack.

Maximilian, Alexander, you are both back out on the track – albeit only virtually for the moment. One race in, what is your impression of the “ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge”?

Maximilian Günther: “Firstly, it is unusual for our races to be virtual ones. However, we are all competitive #people and currently have no other way of competing against each other on the racetrack. As such, the Race at Home Challenge is a great opportunity for us – and, in my opinion, some of the graphics are astonishingly realistic.”

Alexander Sims: “Sim #racing is completely new territory for me. As such, I have gone into the races with relatively low expectations. However, it is great fun to dip into the virtual world and get a little of that competitive feeling, which is otherwise missing at the moment. Besides that, I get the feeling that Maximilian is damned quick.” (laughs)

You said that after the test round. What made it so clear from the onset?

Sims: “I get to see him very often in the BMW Motorsport simulator as part of our preparations for every single real Formula E race, and I can tell that he is far faster in the simulator than I am. Fortunately, we are at the same level on the real racetrack, but Maximilian clearly has far more experience than me in the simulator – partly because he has done simulator work in other teams in the past. He also started sim #racing earlier than I did. All this is plain to see from his fantastic results at the moment.”