It was a difficult Diriyah E-Prix double-header for Lucas di Grassi, with Mahindra Racing‘s powertrain having looked uncompetitive at rounds two and three of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
After claiming pole position and a podium at the season opener in Mexico City, many expected the former Formula E Champion to be amongst the points places at the Riyadh Street Circuit, a venue he finished on the podium at last season. Unfortunately for Di Grassi it was an incredibly “hard weekend”, with the Brazilian having failed to score points in either race.
Di Grassi did qualify well for the first race in Diriyah and made it into the duels, before being knocked out in the Quarter-Finals. His race started badly, though, after being hit by his team-mate at the start of the race, as a result of Mitch Evans causing a concertina effect of cars suddenly slowing down. He went on to finish Race One in Diriyah in thirteenth, whilst in Race Two he finished fifteenth after qualifying twentieth.
Overall, it was a trickly weekend for Di Grassi and the Indian team, with the team needing to “understand what went wrong” ahead of their home race in just under a fortnight.
“We had a hard weekend. I qualified well in the first race but I got hit at the start, although luckily I didn’t pick up any damage. We pushed as much as we could but we finished with no points, which is frustrating after a good day’s work. We didn’t manage to qualify well for the second race but we had good pace compared to the people around us. We started from further back and managed to gain some positions, finishing P15.
“We didn’t score any points though so we need to go back home and understand what went on. Diriyah was a much harder weekend than Mexico but hopefully with the next event being India, we can have a good one for the team’s home race.”
“Something felt wrong with the car” – Oliver Rowland
On the other side of the garage, it was a highly disappointing weekend for Oliver Rowland, who finished nineteenth in Race One and retired from Race Two in Diriyah.
Despite having started eighth for Race One, Rowland was forced to pit immediately after getting a puncture from the opening lap contact with his team-mate, with the Brit having also been hit from behind by António Félix da Costa. The incident effectively ended his race, whilst he retired from Race Two following suspension damage. Points weren’t looking likely for Rowland ahead of his retirement in the second race, after starting fourteenth.
Following the frustrating weekend, Mahindra are “investigating the cause” of Rowland’s suspension damage, with focus now switching to their home race in India.
“During the first race a couple of cars went wide at the start and I tried to stay out of trouble but got hit from behind resulting in a puncture. I guess that was the race over, but we continued to gather some data. During the second race something felt wrong with the car and then I retired with suspension damage, which the team are investigating the cause of. But we refocus now and move onto Hyderabad – I’m excited to get there and experience the home crowd.”
