Lucas di Grassi: “The main aim going into the next two rounds is to keep the momentum”

Lucas di Grassi is hopeful that he can carry the “momentum” from the season-opening Mexico City E-Prix into this week’s double header in Diriyah, for rounds two and three of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Life at Mahindra Racing started beautifully for Di Grassi at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, with the Brazilian having claimed a shock pole position after beating Jake Dennis in the Final of the duels. Mahindra’s package didn’t look great in Mexico City, hence why his pole position was a surprise to most. Di Grassi went on to claim third in the race, after an excellent defensive display that saw the Brazilian use all of his Formula E experience.

Looking ahead to this week’s Diriyah E-Prix, Di Grassi is expecting a very different challenge. The Gen3 challengers will be put to the test at one of the hardest circuits on the calendar, with tyre temperature likely to be an issue due to it being a night race.

Di Grassi knows that the team must “continue improving” at each E-Prix, with the emphasis on this weekend being to “focus on high-speed stability” at the “very difficult” circuit.

“I think the main aim going into the next two rounds is to keep the momentum we had from Mexico. We have to continue improving and focus on the long term evolution of the team. In Diriyah, we need to focus on high-speed stability. It will be less energy critical than Mexico but with potentially more issues with the tyres, especially because it is a night race. The Saudi track is very difficult and has different characteristics to the Mexico City circuit so we need to be able to adapt.”

“These cars are going to be a challenge to drive here” – Oliver Rowland

Oliver Rowland endured a challenging start to the season in Mexico City, with the British driver having been nearer to the back of the field across the bulk of the weekend. The Mahindra driver never really looked close to making it into the duels, with Di Grassi having been the fastest Mahindra-powered driver by some margin.

The race wasn’t much better for Rowland, who collided with René Rast in the closing stages of the race.

Rowland left Mexico City slightly disappointed with his performance, with the British driver insisting that a “bit of a reset” is needed to finish in the points this weekend at a venue he’s previously performed well at. In his last seven races at Diriyah, Rowland has finished in the points on six occasions, highlighting that it is a typically strong venue for the thirty year-old.

“It was a little bit disappointing to not be as competitive as Lucas in Mexico so we will have to have a bit of a reset to understand some things and push as hard as possible to get some points for the team. We made a good start with one car, now we just need both cars up there in Saudi. Some of that lies with me as well, so I’ll be looking forward to getting out on track, where I have historically been pretty competitive. I’m sure these cars are going to be a challenge to drive there, but I’m looking forward to it.”