After taking the first Formula E pole position of his career during qualifying, Di Grassi moved quickly backwards during the first half of the race. After slipping back to fifth before the midrace car swap, a quick pit stop saw him move up to fourth. A smooth, easy move on Renault e.dams’ Nico Prost promoted him into a podium position, but he couldn’t get close to Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne or e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi ahead.
"We have to acknowledge that we’re still chasing the two teams powered by Renault,” Di Grassi said. “That doesn’t mean we’re giving up, but that we’re going to work even harder on finally beating the leaders of the standings again. For today, we’re happy with the points for third palce and pole position, and are going home with pride.”
Di Grassi’s race finished in mild controversy. As he crossed the finishing line, the Brazilian was still under investigation after getting close to NextEV’s Nelson Piquet in the pit lane. He was sent to the stewards after the race, but he was let off with a formal reprimand whilst the team was fined, allowing him to keep his third place finish.
Teammate Daniel Abt had a slightly more successful race after a more difficult qualifying. The German crashed at the start of his qualifying lap, putting him sixteenth on the grid. From there, Abt battled forwards making up nine places to finish seventh.
“After such a long break, it’s not easy to be perfectly fit and to work with maximum concentration again,” team boss Hans-Jürgen Abt said. “We managed to do that well today. However, that doesn’t mean we’re going to rest on this trophy, and the points we scored. First thing Monday morning, we’re going to start giving our all again in order to battle for victory at the next Formula E event in Mexico.”
Di Grassi’s third place finish keeps him second in the championship, but more than 30 points behind points leader Buemi.
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Can ABT close in on Renault this season? Do you think Di Grassi will be the one to end Buemi’s string of wins? Let us know in the comments below!
