DS Techeetah's Andre Lotterer believes that the issues he experienced during the Ad Driyah E-Prix cost him of a potential maiden win in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.
Lotterer, 37, joined Techeetah in Season Four and enjoyed a successful and impressive rookie season in the all-electric single seater series, taking two podium finishes in Santiago and Rome to finish in eighth place in the Drivers' Championship.
Remaining with the DS Automobiles-backed squad for Season Five, the triple Le Mans winner experienced a difficult weekend in Ad Diriyah, with a difficult qualifying session seeing him line up in seventh place for the 45 minutes + 1 lap affair in the desert.
Getting a strong start from the fourth row of the grid, Lotterer was able to battle his way through the field to get as high as second after overtaking polesitter Antonio Felix da Costa.
Being handed a drive-through penalty for a power overuse under regeneration, Lotterer dropped down to seventh in the running order before fighting back through the field, taking fifth place at the chequered flag, unable to clear Panasonic Jaguar Racing's Mitch Evans who finished 0.196s ahead.
“We had some issues, but we should be happy about the pace we had," said Lotterer. "We were really putting the car through its paces and it responded so well.
"It’s of course frustrating to have the issues that we had as I lost out on a potential win, or at least a one-two or a double-podium as we had the pace for it, but we gained some valuable points and that’s what matters the most in this championship.
"I have mixed feelings but now we’re looking to the next race and it will be good to flex our muscles in Marrakesh,” he added.
By also setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1m 12.591s, Lotterer also secured one bonus point, handing him a tally of 11 points to allow DS Techeetah to take the lead in the Teams' Championship, holding a slender advantage of 1 point over BMW i Andretti Motorsport.
The Marrakesh E-Prix will take place on January 12.
