After enduring a difficult start to the season, Audi and Lucas Di Grassi were able to right the wrongs from the first Diriyah E-Prix to claim their first podium of the season on Saturday.
The Brazilian secured second place in Diriyah and secured the team’s 41st podium success in the 60th Formula E race. 31 of those podiums have been courtsey of Di Grassi.
The 35-year old was grateful for his team when asked about his race, as Di Grassi didn’t think a podium was possible after Friday’s result of 13th.
“Thank you to my guys in the pit lane,” said Di Grassi. This trophy is a sweet reward for the hard work done by the whole team after yesterday’s difficult beginning.”
“This is the strength of our team: we never give up. We’re now going to analyze and evaluate everything, continue to improve and be even stronger in the next race. The battle for the championship is just starting for real.”
DI Grassi’s teammate Daniel Abt also scored valuable points with a strong fightback in Saturday’s race. The German came home in sixth place.
Abt. had started the race from the fifteenth spot on the grid, initially made up some positions, but dropped to the back of the field due to a drive-through penalty.
With the help of the safety car and several bold overtaking manoeuvres, he fought back into the points.
“These points today were really hard-fought, but they felt good after a difficult start to the weekend,” said Abt. “We may not have scored a lot of points yet, but we know that we’ve got the performance and the car to be in contention for victories. Now we just need to put it all together.”
Team Principal Allan McNish left Diriyah satisfied with the team’s performance but was impressed with how the team fought back after a difficult Friday which saw the team secure no points.
“That was a wonderfully crazy race – exactly the way we know and love Formula E. That makes going home with a trophy even sweeter,” said McNish. “I was especially impressed by how we fought back here in Riyadh after the disappointing first race on Friday.
“It shows how determined and passionately our team works. Lucas showed an impeccable day today and I’m also very happy about Daniel’s points after a brilliant fightback.”