Di Grassi: Season Four Title Race is "Wide Open"
Reigning Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi says that "up to seven drivers" could be in with a chance of taking the season four Formula E title….
Photo: Formula E
Reigning Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi believes that up to seven drivers could be in with a chance of taking the Season Four title.
The Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver endured a difficult opening round in Hong Kong earlier this month as he came away with no points after a variety of issues affected his performances.
Di Grassi retired from Saturday's opening race with a damaged track rod after contact with his teammate. The Sunday event witnessed him suffer a battery issue which forced him into a reset that cost him the chance of a podium position.
After a closely contested opening weekend in Hong Kong, di Grassi believes that the 2017/18 season is the most open in the history of the championship, and that a variety of protagonists could emerge as champion next July.
"There will be races where there will be a completely different order with up to 10 drivers in with a chance of winning races," the Brazilian told e-racing365.
"I think at least six or seven drivers are very strong and capable of winning the championship, so it's going to be a tough one and it is wide open."
After a succession of fortune in some races last season, di Grassi ruminated on ill-luck and how it tends to balance out over the course of a year.
"Last year, all the problems that the team had were on Daniel's car. He had two problems last year like this [battery related] and I had none," he said.
"This season I had issues so sometime it's your day, sometimes it's not.
"So, we can reset the 'luck meter' and start gain. It was a tough weekend, but we are strong. In qualifying everyone is really close, so you could see it's random."
Di Grassi Gives Credit to Abt
Talking just before Daniel Abt's exclusion from the results at Hong Kong, Di Grassi paid tribute to his Audi teammate who won the race before the stewards intervened.
"If we look back, Daniel actually finished on the podium in the first ever race but then he got disqualified because he consumed a little bit extra energy so Daniel was strong from the beginning," said di Grassi.
"There was a problem with Daniel in the Saturday race and a problem with me on Sunday, so we could have scored much more points. It's good for the team, it's good for Daniel.
"I'm happy that the car is fast. I'm frustrated because of the result but I'm super motivated for the rest of the season."
Related TopicsAudi Sport Schaeffler AbtDaniel AbtfeaturedHong Kong E-Prixlucas di grassi
Sam Smith is e-racing365's Formula E Editor. A 20-year veteran in motorsports media, including press officer roles in both the FIA Sportscar Championship and at Lola Group, Smith is a well-known face in the Formula E paddock, where he served as series editor for Motorsport.com from 2014-17. Contact Sam
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