Paris ePrix – Lucas di Grassi says that Antonio Felix da Costa wasn’t able to race after their collision in Paris.
The Brazilian attempted a pass around the outside of Turn 8, but da Costa was still alongside when the ABT driver turned into the corner. Da Costa was left out of the race while di Grassi continued on.
“In the beginning I was fighting with Antonio, I tried to overtake him a couple of times because I was much faster,” di Grassi said.
“I didn’t see anything. When I went on the outside, I passed him completely, braked and started turning to the apex and he crashed into the inside wall and then me. I couldn’t see it, I just felt it.
“Antonio didn’t know how to race today, he overtook me very harshly but I let him go. When I tried to take him back he played extremely hard. There’s always this risk when you start the back and you’re quicker.”
The collision brought out a Safety Car which prompted a series of early pit stops, but di Grassi was under the minimum pit stop time and was given a drive through penalty as a result.
“We really have to analyse it, because I went out when the mechanic lifted the lollipop.
“But I went in front of everyone that I was behind, so I felt in the car that I was really quick for some reason or they were slow.”
Di Grassi ultimately crashed out of the race with three laps to go, after his whole race had been determined by the lowly grid position of 13th he procured in qualifying.
“Being in group one is not an excuse for me of course, I was two tenths slower than Rosenqvist, P3 in my group.
“The car in FP2 when I did the fastest lap of the day, it was very good and in qualifying I didn’t feel the same grip and I didn’t really know why.”
