Lucas di Grassi believes that the FIA's race restart ruling following a red flag at last weekend's Bern E-Prix was "super unfair" after the former champion was disadvantaged following a strong race start.
In the run-up to the Bern E-Prix, drivers were wary of the tight nature of the 2.75km-long street circuit, with Mahindra Racing's Pascal Wehrlein stating that the probability of a red flag in the Swiss capital was high.
Running into the Turn 12/13/14 chicane which was the site of the first corner for the 11th race of the season, contact was inevitable, with Jerome d'Ambrosio rear-ending Robin Frijns, spinning the Dutchman into the barriers while contact between Max Gunther and Wehrlein resulted in an on-track blockage.
This blockage, in turn, resulted in a red flag while a number of drivers including di Grassi gained positions as a result, with the Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler driver taking to the escape road at the right-left-right complex, jumping from 19th on the grid to eighth in the running order.
Despite a number of drivers gaining, the FIA opted to restart the race in the original grid order, with this marking the last point at which the position of all drivers could be determined, as per the 2018-2019 Formula E Sporting Regulations.
This decision was quickly contested by di Grassi, BMW's Antonio Felix da Costa and Venturi Formula E driver Felipe Massa in the pit lane, with the trio calling for the restart to be in the present running order while declaring that drivers with damage should not be allowed to resume the race in their original positions:
"11 cars passed and crossed the line. The red flag was deployed when we were down there in corner three, not at the start," said di Grassi post-race.
"The red flag was deployed down there so when the red is deployed after the line, or any line, they should use the line. But the race director, he told us that he used the rule that says that you must know the position of every car on the grid which is what the rule is written.
"Because he didn’t know the position of everybody because half of the grid was stuck in the chicane, he decided to use the start grid.
"I think it’s super unfair if somebody causes a crash in corner 1, stops the race, then is allowed to go back to the garage, redo their car and start in their original position," he continued.
"Ok, I was a bit lucky that I passed through the field but that’s part of racing. I didn’t crash. I was careful. I was eighth and I had to go back to 19th. Why? I didn’t do anything wrong.
"I was emotional about it because I didn’t agree with the decision and I think it’s super unfair that a guy that crashes goes back to his place. Hopefully, if another time I crash that they will apply the rule in the same way."
After resuming the race from 18th after Frijns retired from the damage he sustained, di Grassi went on to claim 10th place at the chequered flag, later inheriting ninth place following the application of a post-race time penalty for Andre Lotterer.
With one weekend of racing remaining and with 58 points still on offer, di Grassi remains in second place in the Drivers' Championship, 32 points behind Jean-Eric Vergne who leads.
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