Breaking news
Formula E Rome E-Prix II
Di Grassi calls out Buemi for “incredibly stupid” move in Rome FE
Lucas di Grassi has called out fellow Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi for his “incredibly stupid manoeuvre” that caused the Audi driver to crash out of the second Rome E-Prix.
Matt Kew
Edited: Apr 13, 2021, 3:30 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
In their battle for eighth place on lap seven of the race, di Grassi appeared to get caught across the nose of the Nissan e.dams car of Buemi on the approach to Turn 7.
Di Grassi, who retired from the race lead on Saturday with a mechanical failure, then careered into the wall and stopped down the escape road with broken suspension.
A five-second penalty was added to Buemi’s race time, which dropped the 2015-16 title winner from seventh down to an eventual 10th, and he was also handed two penalty points on his license.
Di Grassi told Motorsport.com: “There is no my perspective or any perspective.
"There is the perspective of the rules and the stewards of the race. Buemi got a penalty. It was an incredibly stupid manoeuvre.”
The Brazilian took aim at a lack of pace for the Nissan e.dams team all weekend, with it unable to introduce its new car in Rome as originally planned. He added that with an eventual 16 laps remaining, Buemi should have bided his time.
Di Grassi said: “He was just slow. He was slow all weekend and he was slow also in that specific race. I was doing my normal race. He had attack mode. He was trying to overtake me back.
“To be honest, he could have overtaken. We had the whole race to go, there was no hurry to do this. He decided to change, last minute, from inside to outside.
“He ended up touching the rear of my car, and then ended my race and ended also his race. It's a shame.”
But Buemi fought back against the stewards’ decision, adding that di Grassi had lined up the overtake too late and left him with no time to react.
Buemi assessed the incident as “unfortunate”.
He told Motorsport.com: “Obviously, I got penalised for that. I don't really agree to be honest. This is the way it is.
“Arriving with attack mode, much more power. In my opinion, he moved so late that I had no time to basically react. I don't mind him closing the door. It's no problem, I go on the other side. But he let me think that he was going to not close the door.
“So once I committed for the move, he came to the left and at the same point he did that, I touched him.”
Lucas Di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, Audi e-tron FE07, climbs out of his car after crashing out
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
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 Vandoorne: Rome win "redemption" after Race 1 misery
Next article De Vries hit with grid penalty for last-lap Bird collision
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Matt Kew
Marko suggests Perez's improved F1 form because 2025 contract at stake
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Marko suggests Perez's improved F1 form because 2025 contract at stake
Russell explains how low-fuel runs expose Mercedes F1 inconsistency
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Russell explains how low-fuel runs expose Mercedes F1 inconsistency
Leclerc: No answer for "once in a season" Japan F1 qualifying struggle
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Leclerc: No answer for "once in a season" Japan F1 qualifying struggle
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”
More from
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
Rast "proven wrong" by "unexpected" win in DTM comeback year
DTM
DTM
Imola
Rast "proven wrong" by "unexpected" win in DTM comeback year
Imola DTM: Audi's Rast claims first pole since return
DTM
DTM
Imola
Imola DTM: Audi's Rast claims first pole since return
Rast laments "difficult" Portimao weekend after point-less DTM return
DTM
DTM
Algarve
Rast laments "difficult" Portimao weekend after point-less DTM return
Latest news
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 2 min
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
28 min
Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 39 min
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
David Alonso lashes out at Dani Holgado: "When you’re not a good person, there’s nothing you can do"
Moto2
MOT2 Moto2
Phillip Island
39 min
David Alonso lashes out at Dani Holgado: "When you’re not a good person, there’s nothing you can do"
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