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In Numbers
Free Practice One // 4th
Free Practice Two // 4th
Qualifying // 2nd [1:36.029,Final]
Race // 3rd
Fastest Lap // 1:26.129
Championship // 5th [126points]
Free Practice One // 2nd
Free Practice Two // 2nd
Qualifying // 6th [1:32.442,Quarter-Final One]
Race // DNF
Fastest Lap // 1:28.268
Championship // 3rd [144points]
Championship // 2nd [270points]
In Detail
ROKiT Venturi Racing returned to the podium in the penultimate race of Formula E’s eighth season, with the Monegasque marque taking third in the inaugural Seoul E-Prix with Lucas di Grassi.
The team took advantage of changeable conditions throughout Race One to score 15 points and carry the World Teams’ Championship title fight forward into the final race of the campaign.
In qualifying, drivers Edoardo Mortara and Lucas di Grassi, both progressed to the duels and although the former was eliminated in the Quarter-Finals, the latter battled into the Final to secure second on the grid.
With the start declared as wet, Lucas secured a strong getaway to take the lead when the race commenced, although the Brazilian lost ground to Mitch Evans and Oliver Rowland later in lap one.
Edo, meanwhile, also made progress and by overtaking Pascal Wehrlein, slotted into the top five after starting from sixth.
An eight-car collision in Turn 20 caused the race to be red flagged at the close of the first lap but when action resumed, both Edo and Lucas held their ground.
Shortly after the restart, contact with Jean-Eric Vergne relegated Edo to seventh before he subsequently fell to eighth when repassed by Wehrlein 15 minutes from the chequered flag.
Unfortunately, a late puncture caused by earlier contact forced the Swiss-Italian to retire, leaving Lucas as the team’s sole challenger.
At the head of the field, he continued to battle for the podium although a late Full Course Yellow and Safety Car period prevented him from making additional progress.
By finishing third, Lucas secured the 39th podium of his Formula E career and became the first driver in the series to surpass the 1,000-point barrier.
With only one race remaining in Season 8, ROKiT Venturi Racing holds second in the World Teams’ Championship with 270 points, 31 points behind leaders Mercedes-EQ with 47 points still available.
In Their Words
“Today we were able to execute a strong race and scored a crucial haul of points to improve our championship hopes. The team did a great job to adapt to the changing conditions which is always a challenge with a drying track. Lucas didn’t put a foot wrong and was able to score his 1,000th point in Formula E. Edo was unlucky with the puncture and if it wasn’t for that, I’m confident that we would have been looking at a double points finish. Now we’re going to shift our focus on tomorrow’s race, we will give our very best to maximise every opportunity in the season finale tomorrow.”
“Today has been a very emotional day. It has been a great honour to race in South Korea and crossing the mark of 1,000 points in Formula E is a privilege, especially when racing in such a competitive series. Approaching this weekend, my primary focus was on helping ROKiT Venturi Racing win the Teams’ title and I think I did the best I could today. Our pace in practice was very strong but I think the rain in qualifying put us on the back foot. I managed to get through to the final to start on the front row and made a good start to take the lead but our setup for the wet wasn’t perfect. We were still competitive, and I tried to stay close to Oliver [Rowland and pull away fromJake [Dennis], but with the wet and dry lines, it was just impossible to overtake. I’m very happy and tomorrow, I’m going to be giving it my all.”
“Overall, today has been pretty frustrating. Our pace was very strong in the dry and I was second in both practice sessions, and topped my qualifying group, but when we got into the duels, luck wasn’t really on my side because I had no practice at this track in the wet. From sixth I think it was still possible to do a good race but then contact with JEV [Jean-Eric Vergne] after the restart ruined everything. We had a slow puncture, and we were able to survive for quite a few laps but the car was becoming more and more difficult to drive and then, the tyre properly came apart which ended our day. Off the back of a few difficult races, I’m determined to finish on a high tomorrow and give it my very best.”
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