Testing report
Formula E Donington August test
Di Grassi breaks new lap-time territory in testing
Lucas di Grassi became the first driver to record a time in the 1m29s bracket on day four of pre-season Formula E testing at Donington Park.
Published: Aug 18, 2015, 6:46 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Abt Schaeffler driver used the full 200kw qualifying mode to post a lap of 1m29.920s to break the new lap record his team-mate Daniel Abt set yesterday. The Brazilian was well clear of his rivals, who were headed by Renault e.dams’ driver Sebastien Buemi.
"I have to say that going for the time is not as important as working on the reliability of the car,” said di Grassi. “Of course working on the performance is important, but we know that performance here doesn’t necessarily translate to what we will see at the other tracks.
"I think the lap time shows promise and it’s good to know that our package is running well at 200kw.”
Buemi said: “To be honest we focussed on race simulations or at least 150kw stints and we learned a lot of things. We feel like there are things we can still improve on the car in terms of performance and reliability.
"Clearly we don’t want to show our hand but you also need to experience what you are capable of doing. You try to play the game and see what happens. Abt look strong, which is good, but I’m confident with the people we have we can do a good job.”
Bruno Senna was third fastest after an encouraging test for Mahindra Racing, which has changed technical partners for season two.
“Today has gone not too bad; we tried a few things and were happy with what we learned,” he said. “The new package seems good and most of all has been reliable, although we’re perhaps not the quickest out there at the moment.
"Next week we need to focus on maximising our efficiency and it will be interesting to see where everyone is in the final session.”
Another new face on track
GP2 race winner Nathanael Berthon had his first run in a Formula E car as he took to the track for Team Aguri. The Frenchman was one of the busiest drivers on track, racking up 68 laps as the team continued to work on the set-up of its car.
It was another tough day for Andretti, although Simona de Silvestro did manage to complete a full lap without stopping.
However, she was unable to set a representative time and the team remains on the backfoot with just next week’s test remaining before the cars are packed up and shipped to China. Trulli finds itself in a similar situation, with neither of its cars appearing on track once again.
All the teams have one last chance to get prepared for the Beijing ePrix on October 17. The final pre-season test takes place at Donington Park on August 24/25.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Senna: Difficult to judge who is quickest
Next article Analysis: Formula E's London conundrum
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Sébastien Buemi
Sebastien Buemi questions WEC race control’s VSC/FCY calls
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Sebastien Buemi questions WEC race control’s VSC/FCY calls
Sebastien Buemi not ruling out Formula E comeback: “I don’t want to close any doors”
Formula E
Formula E
Sebastien Buemi not ruling out Formula E comeback: “I don’t want to close any doors”
Latest news
Charles Leclerc reacts to Ferrari fear: 'We know what line not to cross'
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
17 min
Charles Leclerc reacts to Ferrari fear: 'We know what line not to cross'
Kyle Busch Remembered: Rowdy's wildest and most impressive Talladega moments
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
49 min
Kyle Busch Remembered: Rowdy's wildest and most impressive Talladega moments
Lamborghini World Finals PRO-PRO/AM Race 2: Leitch/Stasi dominate to seal title
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini World Finals PRO-PRO/AM Race 2: Leitch/Stasi dominate to seal title
Toto Wolff reveals he is actively vetting “two or three people” to replace him at Mercedes
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Toto Wolff reveals he is actively vetting “two or three people” to replace him at Mercedes
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe