Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport racer Lucas di Grassi says his win at the Mexico City ePrix is “one of the best races” of his career.
Di Grassi started 15th after struggling in qualifying on a slippery track and was hit by Maro Engel on the opening lap, which forced him to pit under the safety car for a new rear wing.
He dropped to last place but his team put him on an alternative strategy, pitting to change cars during the second safety car a few laps clear of the half-way mark.
The clean air and unusual strategy put him into the race lead when the rest of the field pitted, but he was forced to conserve energy.
Dragon’s Jerome d’Ambrosio also went for an early pitstop and moved up to second place, holding up those behind to give di Grassi a comfortable lead.
By the time the conventional stoppers had cleared d’Ambrosio, it was too late and di Grassi stormed to an unexpected win.
“What an incredible change of fate, but actually that’s what Formula E represents, there are such ups and downs,” he explained.
“You can have a bad weekend or good weekend – the level of the drivers is so high. Somebody crashed into my back, broke the rear wing and there was a safety car.
“I managed to open a gap, keep on just using regen, just trying to be as energy efficient as possible, just focussing on my race as much as possible until the last corner and then just celebrated like crazy.
“For me it was one of the best races of my life, in terms of how I drove, how energy efficient I had to be, so I’m very pleased.”
