Lucas di Grassi comes to Berlin and the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport team’s home race as championship leader: with a convincing victory in the first outing for Formula E in Paris, the Brazilian did not just inspire the fans, but also extended his lead over Sébastien Buemi. Daniel Abt also added to his points haul in Paris.
A perfect start to the race saw Lucas di Grassi pave the way to his fourth Formula E win: the South American outbraked pole man Sam Bird going into the first corner before building a small lead. After making a perfect pit stop, even a late safety car phase didn’t bring di Grassi into danger. It is the first time in the short history of the eclectic series that a driver has taken two consecutive victories.
“The fans, the atmosphere, the location – all in all this race in Parts was the best Formula E event so far. That makes me even prouder of our victory,” said Lucas di Grassi. “It may well have looked easy from the outside, but it certainly wasn’t from inside the cockpit: in the low temperatures it was difficult to get the tires and brakes up to temperature – as we saw from the large number of mistakes and slides throughout the day. Now we come to the team’s home race in Berlin as leaders. I know what this means for all the team members, partners, fans and the media.”
While Lucas di Grassi claimed a place in the super pole again and took second place, team mate Daniel Abt had to start the race this time from 14th position. The German, who joined in the celebrations on the podium three weeks ago in Long Beach, drove a clever race and thanks to efficient energy management moved up to tenth place. “Obviously not what I expected. Now we’ll look closely to see what the cause was, and then attack at the front again in Berlin. We know that we have the package for this.”
The Formula E race impressed the fans and drivers alike: at 1.93 kilometers in length, the shortest track on the calendar ran around Les Invalides, past the typical French cafés and close to the banks of the River Seine and Eiffel Tower. “On the slowing down lap I even saw the people waving from the apartment windows – I’ve never seen anything like this before,” reported Lucas di Grassi. Team Boss Hans-Jürgen Abt was also full of praise: “Paris showed everybody what Formula E is all about: emotions, a unique location and enthusiastic people. Congratulations to everybody who made all this possible.”
Before the race in the heart of Berlin, which is held on May 21, Lucas di Grassi tops the championship rankings with a margin of 11 points and ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport lies second. “The gap to our rivals means nothing in Formula E. But it goes without saying that we will do everything to move up a gear in front of our home fans. We know that our ABT Schaeffler FE 01 is a winner!”
