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In Numbers
Free Practice One // 5th
Free Practice Two // 9th
Qualifying // 9th [1:09.777, Group A]
Race // 5th
Positions Gained // +4
Fastest Lap // 1:10.843
Championship // 1st [150 points]
Free Practice One // 11th
Free Practice Two // 18th
Qualifying // 3rd [1:09.559, Semi-Final Two]
Race // 2nd
Positions Gained // +1
Fastest Lap // 1:11.035
Championship // 6th [84 points]
Championship // 1st [234 points]
In Detail
ROKiT Venturi Racing battled to the podium in the first part of the 2022 New York City E-Prix, with Lucas di Grassi finishing second in a chaotic mixed-weather race at the Brooklyn Street Circuit.
The Brazilian successfully navigated difficult conditions in Group B to qualify third while team-mate, Edoardo Mortara, started ninth on the grid after missing out on the duels by only 0.008 seconds.
Both drivers made progress when the race commenced, with Lucas immediately taking second from Stoffel Vandoorne into Turn One while Edo passed Sam Bird for eighth on the first lap.
After settling into a rhythm, Lucas briefly took the lead in the ninth minute when pole sitter, Nick Cassidy, activated Attack Mode before falling back to second on the following lap.
As a variety of strategies unfolded, Lucas and Cassidy continued to exchange positions throughout the race in a closely contested fight at the front of the field.
Edo, meanwhile, continued to make progress in the second half and after taking a conservative approach to energy management previously, made large gains in the final 14 minutes.
With the benefit of Attack Mode, he repassed Bird before clearing Jake Dennis, Nyck de Vries, Pascal Wehrlein and Sebastien Buemi to move forward to fifth, with heavy rain now falling on track.
With conditions deteriorating rapidly, sudden aquaplaning caused Lucas, alongside Cassidy and Vandoorne, and Edo, to crash in Turn Six in two separate incidents, which caused the race to be red flagged with seven minutes + one lap remaining.
Due to extensive damage to the Turn Six barriers, the race was not resumed, with the final classification reset to the standing of the penultimate lap before the red flag, in accordance with Article 41.9 of the Sporting Regulations.
As a result, Lucas returned to the Formula E podium by finishing in second while Edo battled forward to fifth while also positing the fastest lap of the race
Completing a combined haul of 29 points, ROKiT Venturi Racing continues to lead the World Teams’ Championship with 233 points while Edo continues to head the Drivers’ Standings with 149 points.
Formula E’s 2022 New York City E-Prix double-header will continue on Sunday, 17 July, with a second race on the Brooklyn Street Circuit.
In Their Words
“The team executed a very strong race today, and it’s great to see Lucas back on the podium where he belongs. He extracted the most in qualifying, delivered a fantastic race and after seeing him come so close to silverware in the past few weekends, it’s nice to see him back in the top three. Edo also did a brilliant job to come through to finish fifth and score some good points for the team. Our full attention is already on tomorrow and there will be a lot of work going on behind the scenes to repair Lucas’ car which was heavily damaged in the incident at the end of the race. After a strong result though, morale is extremely high and we’re motivated and excited by the opportunities that tomorrow holds.”
“Today’s race was very strange for me but under the circumstances, I’m happy to finish fifth. I spent the first half saving quite a lot of energy so we could spend more in the final laps and I think the strategy worked very well. I made up a lot of ground in my final Attack Mode and I think that if the race had stayed dry, we might have caught the cars in front of us. When it did start to rain, the conditions changed very quickly and I aquaplaned about 250 metres before Turn Six. I was worried that I was going to hit the cars that had already crashed in front of me but I put my foot on the brake, managed to stop and floored the throttle to turn the car around. I was extremely lucky to be able to continue. Nevertheless, finishing fifth from ninth, on a circuit where it is tricky to overtake, is a good result. Hopefully, tomorrow will be even better.”
“It felt great to be fighting for the lead throughout the race, Cassidy put up a strong fight and our set-up and strategy paid off. The most important thing about today is that everyone involved in the accident at the end of the race is okay. The crash was one of the worst of my Formula E career and aside from some bruising, I’m fine and we should be very grateful to the FIA for creating such a safe car. When the car starts to aquaplane, there’s nothing that you can do and after this happened in Turn Six, we were just passengers. I’m happy to finish on the podium and to get some good points, but I’m unhappy that our car is in pieces. Our mechanics have a big job to get the car repaired for tomorrow but I know that they can do it.”
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