Maximilian Gunther has been named as the second driver of Dragon Racing for the 2018/19 FIA Formula E Championship.
The FIA Formula 2 Championship driver will make his Formula E debut with Dragon in Season 5 of the all-electric series alongside Jose Maria Lopez. The German is promoted to the race seat after spending time as the team’s reserve last year.
“I’m really happy to compete with Dragon in the upcoming ABB FIA Formula E championship,” said Gunther. “We made great progress during our development with the more powerful and complex Gen2 Car.
“It’s an exciting challenge for both the engineers and the driver, and I’m enjoying every second driving it. The working atmosphere inside the team is fantastic, I feel really comfortable and can’t wait to get the new season started.
“Certainly, I will give it my all to deliver the best possible results for the team. I want to thank Jay Penske and the entire Dragon team for their trust and for giving me the opportunity to race in this first-class championship.”
Team boss Jay Penske added: “I’m very pleased to give Max the opportunity to race in the no. 6 car this season. Maximilian did a tremendous job building rapport with the team and working with the entire organisation on the development of the Penske EV-3.
“Maximilian has shown himself to be a true competitor. I’m looking forward to seeing the results of his hard work in season five.” Even though Ferrari junior Antonio Fuoco tested with Dragon in the pre-season test, Gunther was was on top of the priority list.
The announcement for the German driver should complete the line-up for the 2018/19 season but the twist with Alexander Albon potentially leaving Nissan to join Toro Rosso in Formula 1 could spice up things.
For now, the Thai-British driver is part of Nissan as the parting hasn’t been announced officially. Should Albon leave the team, the replacement could be Oliver Rowland – who drove the car on the final day of the pre-season test.
Formula E 2018/19 line-up:
Venturi: Felipe Massa & Edoardo Mortara
Jaguar Racing: Nelson Piquet Jr & Mitch Evans
Audi: Lucas di Grassi & Daniel Abt
BMW Andretti: Antonio Felix da Costa & Alexander Sims
Nissan: Sebastien Buemi & Alexander Albon
DS Techeetah: Jean-Eric Vergne & Andre Lotterer
Envision Virgin Racing: Sam Bird & Robin Frijns
NIO Formula E Team: Oliver Turvey & Tom Dillmann
HWA Racelab: Gary Paffet & Stoffel Vandoorne
Mahindra Racing: Pascal Wehrlein & Jerome D’Ambrosio