Edoardo Mortara believes that Venturi has a lot to look forward to in 2020 after a strong showing for the Monegasque team in Diriyah.
The Swiss-Italian driver took the team to fourth in qualifying on Friday and eighth on Saturday. Still, Attack Mode issues in the race meant he was unable to capitalise on those qualifying performances as he finished seventh on Friday, but managed to improve to fourth on Saturday.
“We had a better race on Saturday than Friday,” said Mortara. “I think the entire weekend has been positive. We finished in fourth place, which is good.
“But for the second time in a row, we had a problem with Attack Mode. I’m not sure if I made a mistake or if it was a system issue – we need to investigate it.
“With seventh yesterday and more good points today, the car seems competitive, and I’m comfortable with it. I have an excellent team around me, so that makes me feel positive and optimistic about the future.
“We know that we need to extract more performance from the car – but we have a long season ahead, and I’m confident that we will be able to do that.”
Team Principal Susie Wolff is confident that the team has an excellent package with the Mercedes power unit and is hopeful they van back up their form in Diriyah at the Santiago E-Prix in January.
“This was another positive race for us,” said Wolff. “It was a shame that Mortara had issues with Attack Mode activation; ultimately, these issues cost him a podium today.
“After a great start to the race, it was heart-breaking for Felipe with a simple mistake removing our chances of a double top-eight finish. But we have a good package, so it’s an encouraging start to the season for us. We will learn from this weekend and come back stronger in Santiago.”
Felipe Massa received a penalty during the race for being out of position, which the Brazilian was unsure how he managed to commit the offence.
“We made a strong start to today’s race and had a good pace, getting the right energy in the car.,” said Massa. “I was in seventh when I got a message on the radio to say that I had a penalty for being out of position on the grid.
“I could not believe it, and my race got worse from there. Our pace at this stage of the season is very encouraging though, and I look forward to racing in Santiago.”