Lucas di Grassi feels like the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is coming home this weekend as it returns to London for the first time in four years.
The Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver says there have been a few emotional moments for him in London when it raced at its previous home at Battersea, but this weekend will see an all-new, part indoor, part outdoor circuit at the Exhibition Centre London (ExCeL) in London Docklands.
Di Grassi says the track is not expected to be that quick and will have limited opportunities to overtake, but he is ready for the experience of a track that is partly inside ExCeL and partly outside.
“We have already experienced many emotional moments in our Formula E history in London,” said di Grassi. “The headquarters of the series is based here, as is the case for many teams and drivers. You could say that Formula E is coming home.
“It’s the first time that a track is half open and half covered. The layout is not particularly fast overall. It has low energy consumption, many corners and, at first glance, offers few overtaking opportunities, making the circuit quite different to other Formula E circuits.”
“The locations for the final phase of the season are really incredible” – René Rast
Team-mate René Rast says the venues of the final three rounds of the season – New York City, London and Berlin – are ‘really incredible’, and he cannot wait to get started this weekend in London around a very unique circuit.
Rast currently sits seventh in the Drivers’ Championship heading into this weekend’s races and will run in group two in Qualifying. He is just twenty points behind championship leader Sam Bird – in fact, fifteen drivers are all within twenty-seven points of Bird, which is the number of points available in just one race.
“First New York, now London and then Berlin, the locations for the final phase of the season are really incredible,” said Rast. “I’ve never driven on a circuit like the one in London in my career.
“The layout and the entire setting are completely new territory for all of us and something very special. It promises to be a great adventure.”
