Season Three Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi has expressed both his and Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler's desire to extend their recent string of success into to coming 2018/19 season.
Di Grassi, 34, finished in second place in the Drivers' Championship in the final season of Formula E's first generation of racing, scoring seven consecutive podium finishes to turn around what was a difficult season after failing to score in the first four rounds.
With the assistance of team-mate Daniel Abt, the pair successfully powered Audi to its first Teams' Championship title, defeating the Renault-powered Techeetah squad by only two points in a thrilling on-track battle for supremacy in Brooklyn, New York.
Looking to emulate and ultimately continue the German marque's form into Formula E's revolutionised championship that commences this weekend, di Grassi expressed that Audi is ready for the increased competition that it will face in Season Five.
“We want to take the momentum from last season with us: as a team, we most recently stood on the podium eight consecutive times and would like to extend this string of success,” he said.
“Our e-tron FE05 is a powerful car, the team has matured once again and gelled even more closely.
"Obviously, the competition will be tougher because everyone is investing more in Formula E. We challenged every detail and improved once again. We’re ready.”
Mirroring di Grassi's ambition, Abt expressed his desire to get the championship kick-started from the get-go, looking to have an impressive showing of performance at the inaugural Ad Diriyah E-Prix:
“It’s hard to believe: now, at age 26, I’m already one of the seasoned drivers in a racing series,” he continued.
“But when looking at all of the things that are going to change in Formula E, then all 22 drivers in the new season will arguably be rookies again.
"We worked hard over the last few months both on and off the track. Now we want to manage the best possible start in Riyadh and have a first impressive showing.”
For Season Five, the Formula E Championship sees a total shakeup in regulations, with the series' original Spark SRT 01E being replaced by the faster, more durable and aggressively designed Gen2 machine while the series also sees the introduction of 'Attack Mode' – a 25kW that can be used by a driver when passing through an activation zone on track.
Through the introduction of Attack Mode, strategy will be more unpredictable, with the FIA determining the number of activations and their duration just before the start of the race while the removal of pit stops will increase the need for battery management.
Through the changes that Formula E will see for the 2018/19 campaign, Audi team principal Allan McNish expressed his nervousness ahead of the start of the new season:
"We can hardly wait for the racing to finally start again,” he said. “It feels like the season finale with all of its emotions was a long time ago.
Now we’re looking ahead: The joint pre-season tests in Valencia gave us an initial impression of the relative strengths in the new season.
"But in motorsport, nothing compares to the magic of the first race day with the first qualifying and race, when you really know where you stand, especially after the months of hard work done by everyone back in Neuburg.
"My feeling can best be described as suspense and nervous anticipation.”
The 2018/19 Formula E season will commence on December 15 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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