Lucas di Grassi hails 'most unlikely victory' after ending four-year Formula E drought

Lucas di Grassi has hailed his emotional victory in the second race of Formula E's Shanghai double-header as the "most unlikely victory" in the history of the championship.

One of the most remarkable stories in Formula E history unfolded last Sunday at a wet Shanghai International Circuit, as di Grassi charged from 19th on the grid to victory.

With nothing to lose, di Grassi switched from wet to dry tyre pressures on the grid following a discussion with Jean-Éric Vergne, who climbed from 18th to second. It proved an inspired decision, as a dry line emerged once the rain stopped falling.

It resulted in a true Formula E fairytale, as di Grassi carved his way through the field to secure his first victory since London 2022 and Lola's first in the category.

There were tears throughout the Lola garage, which has endured two challenging years towards the back of the grid since joining the all-electric series. Di Grassi was equally emotional because, with him retiring at the end of the season, there is every chance that both his first and last Formula E victories will have come in China.

Di Grassi's victory has arguably become the story of the season so far and will likely go down as one of the biggest, yet most welcome, shocks in the championship's 12-year history.

Discussing how the victory felt, di Grassi told RacingNews365 during an interview: "The simple answer is that it feels extraordinarily good. It's probably the most unlikely victory in the history of Formula E, and I say that because the race was not given to us, right? There wasn't a massive pile-up involving 10 cars or anything like that. We had to overtake 18 cars on track.

"We were a bit lucky with the full-course yellow at one point, and the leader was wasting a few minutes of Attack Mode, but that was only a minor factor in the whole scheme of things. 

"It was also up to us not to use Attack Mode when we saw there was a car stopped on track. So, yeah, it felt amazing, especially at this stage of my career, after four years of not being able to fight with the top cars in the paddock.

"Lola came in, everybody worked very hard, but it's difficult to keep the motivation up because we know there is a performance deficit compared to some of the top cars. 

"The guys kept working and kept believing that hard work only pays off if you keep grinding when nothing else is working. Then, when the opportunity comes, you're ready, because if we hadn't worked hard, this opportunity would never have come."

Di Grassi's investigation concern

At 41 years old, di Grassi rolled back the years with his celebrations. However, they were suddenly paused after he was informed that he was under investigation.

It was clear from the Brazilian's expression during the post-race press conference that he was genuinely concerned, but he soon relaxed once he entered the stewards' room and presented his evidence following an alleged yellow flag infringement.

Asked if he was worried about the investigation which resulted in a warning, di Grassi revealed: "Fully worried, yeah, because you never know what's going to happen in the stewards' room. You never know how they're going to interpret the evidence, so you're always worried."

Investigation aside, the victory is one that di Grassi will remember forever, and despite the fact the Season 3 champion has achieved so much in Formula E, he views what he did in Shanghai as one of the defining moments of his career.

"It's a very special win, probably one of the defining moments of my career," added di Grassi. 

"To win in the conditions we were in, with the car we had, and to create history for Lola with its first-ever victory... 

"My last race in China, closing the cycle from my first race in China to my last. So it was kind of a perfect script, and I'm still realising what we achieved on Sunday."