Tough start in Hong Kong

The Hong kong opener to the 2018 Formula E season was not the dream start Team Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler and drivers Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt had been hoping for. Some technical issues with Daniel’s car put paid to a certain podium finish in the first race, while reigning champion, Lucas di Grassi was forced to swap cars early after an accident, effectively finishing his campaign for the weekend.

The Hong Kong street circuit along the waterfront of Hong Kong harbour was again a brilliantly turned out track and the local motorsport enthusiasts were out in force to watch the season opener. For Team Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, the most encouraging things to come out of the weekend was the sheer speed of the Audi e-tron FE04 cars, which certainly bodes well for the season ahead.

At the end of the two days though, a fifth place for Daniel Abt in race one was the best result, with di Grassi not able to score any points, saying: 

“Zero points is a bitter result because the car was really fast in the race,” said di Grassi. “But sometimes you have days like this.”

Although unlucky to have missed a podium in the first race, Abt was philosophical but also pleased with the speed of the race car. 

“That we have a really fast car is a positive,” said the new Audi factory driver. “But I’m obviously not happy with the result. It’s frustrating that the second car didn’t start immediately – for whatever reasons,” he said. 

“With Lucas we’ve seen a continuation of last season’s duel with Buemi,” said Team Principal Allan McNish after the race. “After contact, he had to pit extremely early and, as a result, had no chance anymore. I’m incredibly sorry for Daniel. He drove a really strong race but then his car wouldn’t start, which was not his fault, but there was nothing we could do either. Afterwards, he was incredibly quick again. He lost 20 seconds, in the end only lacking 17 seconds for a possible victory.”

The Formula E teams now get to regroup over the festive season, before turning their attention on round 2 in Marrakesh on the 13th of January.