Daniel Abt felt that he was capable of winning the Paris E-Prix, believing that Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler could have taken victory at the eighth round of the season if rainfall had held off.
In Paris, Abt returned to the podium for the first time since February's Santiago E-Prix, with the German racer securing a third place finish on the Circuit des Invalides, finishing behind Robin Frijns and Andre Lotterer who completed the top two positions.
Starting from seventh, Abt fought his way through the field, jumping to sixth after a crash for polesitter Oliver Rowland before overtaking GEOX Dragon's Maximilian Gunther and Sebastien Buemi for fourth, clearing Venturi's Felipe Massa in Turn 3 to take third.
With rain and hail falling with 30-minutes + 1 lap of racing remaining, the E-Prix was plunged into anarchy, with drivers throughout the field struggling for grip, making the racing conditions treacherous.
As a result of the pace that he displayed in the opening stages of the race, Abt felt that the win in Paris was possible, however, admitted that when the rain came his race turned into a battle of management, maintaining third place in order to bank 15 points for his and Audi's 2018/19 campaign:
"That was an incredible race,” said Abt after securing his second podium in eight races.
"After a strong start with great fights, I felt I could win. But then a shower came and after that things turned chaotic. I could hardly see through my visor.
"The car was floating and I had zero grip. So I told myself not to do anything stupid and just bring the car home. This podium is crucial, we need these points.”
On the other side of the garage, Lucas di Grassi took fourth in Paris, with the Season Three champion recording his best result since Hong Kong:
“From eighth to fourth place – it was a good race," he said. "The conditions were incredibly difficult, but we earned plenty of points. I’m now fourth in the championship. We're catching up. Thanks to Audi and the entire team for a great job. I'm now looking forward to the next race in Monaco.”
Allan McNish, Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Team Principal, added: “Thanks to the fantastic second podium result for Daniel, and Lucas directly behind on fourth place, we've scored a lot of points and are right up there in the fight for the titles in both championships. I'm very pleased with both drivers and the whole team.”
Discussion about this post