Lucas di Grassi Interview: on Venturi, Gen3, and Getting Back to the Front
An enigma
The original driver hired by Formula E, but also a maverick who thinks on his feet. A controversial figure on and off the track, but also one of the most reliable frontrunners any team could ask for. It’s fair to say that, even though he’s one of the most quoted drivers who will line up on the grid this season, Lucas di Grassi remains an enigma to many in the sport.
For the 2022 Formula E season, the Brazilian is also going to be part of a wholly new team for the first time since he took part in the first-ever race, in Beijing in 2014. With Audi having taken the decision last season to pull out of Formula E, and with Audi-adjacent team Abt (who originally held the licence) having failed to take on that team’s franchise slot, di Grassi was left with a tough choice.
Di Grassi enjoyed great success over eight seasons with Abt and Audi (copyright FIA Formula E)
He and the management agency that looks after him, Julian Jakobi’s GP Sports Management, had to find the Formula E team which would give the 2016-17 champion the best possible chance of returning to the top step of the podium on a regular basis, and potential of challenging for the title.
Performance boost
The eventual choice for di Grassi was Venturi, carrying, for the last time this season, the Mercedes powertrain. The team is based near di Grassi’s home in Monaco, but far more important than the daily commute to the factory was the pedigree the ROKiT-backed team had shown last season: Mortara won race two in Puebla, leading from the front, while Normal Nato’s efforts finally paid off in the final race in Berlin, where the Frenchman, in what was to be his swansong for Venturi, took the victory.
“Of course,” di Grassi agreed, “the reason to choose Venturi was the performance of the team and the powertrain of last year - to be in a team where I can fight for victories and to perform well, especially considering the good relationship I had with Abt.” While di Grassi still feels, to some extent, synonymous with Abt and Audi when it comes to Formula E, he appears invigorated by the change of scene.
There are rumours within the paddock that di Grassi may already be on the shortlist of more than one rival team for the following season to this one, but for the moment, the Brazilian is focused on delivering with the same powertrain that took Nyck de Vries to the championship last season.
Mortara will provide stern intra-team competition for di Grassi, especially as he is a Venturi stalwart, coming into his fifth season with the team. However, what even Mortara’s biggest fans would admit is that the Swiss lacks consistency, and can sometimes go for low-percentage moves when the red mist rises. Di Grassi’s racing style, while equally robust at times, will be worth observing alongside Mortara’s on crowded Formula E city street circuits.
Glad group qualifying is over
One element of Formula E which di Grassi was a regular and vocal critic of was qualifying. After the Gen1 era, and the drawing of lots, was replaced by what, it was hoped, would be a more meritocratic process, came groups of drivers, divided by championship order. Any drivers finding themselves in Group One would often be relegated to the rear quartile of the grid, running on a dirty track at the start of the session.
Di Grassi at testing in his new uniform (copyright FIA Formula E)
Having been stridently unimpressed by group qualifying at the time, di Grassi seemed, by the time of this interview, to have evolved his view. While he felt he often lost out unfairly due to track conditions, he thought the qualifying format at least enhanced the show. “Yeah, it was not fair, but it was done in a way to allow for more drivers to be fighting for the title at the end of the season. So from that point of view, it was doing the job it was supposed to be doing. Even if I thought it was not fair, it was working really well.”
The new qualifying format is essentially a pool-based knockout tournament to decide the grid, again drawn on championship order. Formula E saw a need to do something about the groups and how track evolution affected performance so severely, and has acted. Di Grassi is happy, but speaking prior to the first race under the new process, he is intrigued how it will all play out on track. “Now, what is interesting is that it would be more fair, and you need to be better than the other drivers when you are on track, so it changes the game with regard to the future.”
Gen3 - not going far enough?
The majority of drivers have said little on the future of Formula E, and on the Gen3 rules package which will make its debut for the following season, but di Grassi, who is passionate about Formula E being a showcase for the most cutting-edge electric vehicle technology, has argued on numerous occasions that the car he had seen did not go far enough in pushing the envelope of what was possible in an electric car.
He seemed to still hold this view when Motion E spoke to him, saying, “There is a big technology leap for Gen3, but I would have done things a bit differently. I would have focused on duplicating the current powertrain front and rear, and putting the battery of the car on the floor, to make it cheaper and more cost-effective. Also studying ways of implementing more new technologies, like movable aerodynamics maybe, like lights to be able to race at night, four-wheel-drive from scratch, no doubt about this, and so many others.”
With the Mercedes powertrain, the Venturi should be close to the front (copyright FIA Formula E)
Some electric motorsport-watchers are excited about the emergence of Pure ETCR, and the forthcoming FIA-backed Electric GT championship; Pure ETCR, as we have explored, is meant to be a product formula rather than a technology formula, and the Electric GT championship will be somewhere in-between that and Formula E in terms of costs and technical complexity.
“Pure ETCR and Electric GT are not suitable”
The main test of which electric series are successful, though, will be in the followings they pick up and their popularity with spectators and viewers. Di Grassi, whose interest is primarily in the technological side of things, is not concerned about either of the newcomer series surpassing Formula E, because they are so different.
“ETCR and Electric GT at the moment are not suitable, and are not a threat to Formula E. Formula E is the only electric championship that is relevant for technology development at the moment, but it needs to stay like this by innovating, and by developing technologies that are relevant for the future, not for the present, and not for the past.
For the final season of the Gen2 era, it seems that combining one of the sport’s wiliest tacticians with arguably the fastest powertrain, at least on paper, has the potential for success. What Venturi seemed, on some occasions in the 2020-21 season, to be lacking was not speed - they were able to get the maximum out of the Mercedes powertrain - but the ability to be tactically flexible in high-pressure situations. There were issues with battery life on more than one occasion, indicating that perhaps the aggression was not lacking, but perhaps the finer points of mid-race management could benefit from an extra voice who has been there and done it before.
Di Grassi has shown on multiple occasions that he thinks several laps ahead. Whatever you may think of his attempt to take advantage of a Safety Car stoppage by using the pit lane (and opinion was, to put it politely, mixed), it was a prime example of the now-37-year-old looking at any way he and his team can get ahead. Unarguably, by having di Grassi’s tactical nous and speed, Venturi will benefit. The benefit will have been mutual if di Grassi can add to his tally of 12 Formula E victories.