Fresh from his impressive P2 finish at the Miami E-Prix, Lola Yamaha ABT’s Lucas Di Grassi enters the Monaco double-header weekend with renewed confidence but unchanged objectives for the 2025 Formula E season.
Building momentum from Miami
Speaking to Pit Debrief about his P2 finish in Miami, Di Grassi touched upon his objectives for Monaco and the rest of season 11. “One of the objectives was to get a podium for the first year of Lola Yamaha, which would be amazing because it’s very, very hard in Formula E to achieve a podium in the first year,” he said. So this was ticked already,” Di Grassi explained ahead of the Monaco E-Prix. “Now we have to score points consistently.”
The veteran driver emphasised that despite the podium success, his approach remains steadfast. “My approach has been the same. We’ve been working very hard. We have been developing the car as much as we can and trying to catch up on the other guys.”
Di Grassi’s second-place finish in Miami came after a chaotic race that ended with a four-lap sprint following a red flag caused by a three-car crash. The Brazilian driver, who had started seventh on the grid, displayed remarkable racecraft throughout the event, climbing to third by the final stages. When Norman Nato received a 10-second penalty for improper ATTACK Mode usage after crossing the finish line first, Di Grassi was promoted to second place behind eventual winner Pascal Wehrlein.
Di Grassi looks back to Monaco and previous FE generations
Looking ahead to Monaco, Di Grassi expressed confidence in the potential of his Lola Yamaha ABT machine. “The car has a lot of potential. Miami showed that, and we’re going to hopefully have a good weekend here. The target is to score points on both races.”
As one of Formula E’s original drivers, Di Grassi has witnessed the evolution of the all-electric racing series across multiple generations of cars at the iconic Monaco circuit. When asked about adapting his driving style to the increased power and reduced weight of the Gen 3 Evo, he acknowledged the need for flexibility.
“At every generation, every new generation, there is something you have to adapt in your driving style, in your approach, in the strategy of the race, because you have different batteries, different power, different lot of things. So you need to adapt, you need to make it better.”
Despite these technical evolutions, Di Grassi maintains that his fundamental philosophy has remained consistent throughout his Formula E career.
“It’s always push to the limit, always try to extract the most amount of the car at any given point. And on the long term, trying to make the decisions that the car will be better and the team will be better in the long term, trying to build up for that. This hasn’t changed at all since ever. So the philosophy remains.”
Supporting a promising rookie
Di Grassi also spoke about his rookie teammate Zane Maloney, who despite being new to Formula E, has previous experience racing in Monaco from his Formula 2 and FRECA days.
When asked if he had provided advice to Maloney about the unique overtaking opportunities that Formula E offers in Monaco compared to other series, Di Grassi was full of praise for the newcomer.
“Honestly, Zane is very well prepared. He’s a great driver and I think he’s learning very, very fast. And we’re trying to learn from each other,” Di Grassi said. “So I always look at Zane’s data, try to improve myself as a driver as well. And he does not need coaching. He needs a little bit more experience in Formula E, and I’m sure he will turn out to be one of the best drivers in Formula E in the future.”
