“A sense of duty done”: Lucas di Grassi’s final Formula E chapter

17 Sep '26

For over a decade, Lucas di Grassi has played a critical role in Formula E’s history.

From taking victory in the championship’s inaugural race at the 2014 Beijing E-Prix, to his final race in London, the Brazilian has been in Formula E for every chapter: the victories, championship battles, all the highs and lows, ultimately ending at the conclusion of the 2025/26 season, as the 42-year-old makes the decision to retire from professional racing.

Di Grassi is a figure that most knowledgeable motorsport fans will be familiar with, having competed in Formula One, The World Endurance Championship (WEC), and GT World Cup. But Formula E has undoubtedly been the championship where he has spent the longest part of his 24-year career.

His involvement in the series goes even further back than the first time the original GEN1 cars hit the track, with the Brazilian playing a critical role in the development of the foundation of the championship and its early prototype machinery.

As he looks back on his career, however, he says it’s difficult to decide how he will be remembered: “The memories are not what I choose them to be. It's the experiences I had with people that I interacted with, and people watching the races, people that I worked with, so it's very hard to choose what the others will remember.

“I was pushing people very, very hard. I had fights all the time. I had good moments, but also bad moments. I would say in racing, I had way more bad moments and good moments.

“The amount of hours, the amount of time away from home, the number of times in crappy hotels and missing birthdays, like this year where my son had his birthday during the Shanghai E-Prix, actually, so it was a cool birthday present (claiming victory). But I still missed a lot of birthdays, weddings, friend celebrations, and so on.

“I made a lot of commitments. I put in a lot of effort. I can say that I'm the driver who put the most effort into Formula E, and I hope people see it this way because it's not only the drivers or the people working for me, but it’s everybody who created the memories.”

The early seasons

As the winner of the first-ever Formula E E-Prix, di Grassi didn’t have to wait very long for his first victory in the all-electric championship.

The first year of Formula E was a season like no other - the first of its kind - with the grid having names like Nico Prost, Nelson Piquet Jr, and Bruno Senna, but with many motorsport fans and journalists still getting used to the concept of electric racing.

Nicolas Prost took pole for the first-ever E-Prix, and looked set to claim Formula E’s first silverware, but a dramatic final lap changed the result and gave the championship one of its most famous moments...

German Nick Heidfeld attempted to overtake Prost for the lead of the race into the final corner, with the resulting collision sending Heidfeld into the air, and ultimately the barrier. Thankfully, both drivers escaped unharmed, but their retirements allowed di Grassi, who had spent much of the race in third, to take the lead and cross the line as the first-ever Formula E winner. It was the first of his 13 victories.

WATCH: Huge crash in Formula E's first-ever race! - Prost vs Heidfeld incident

Another one of his most notable wins came three seasons later in Mexico City, where he started the E-Prix from 15th on the grid, with his race appearing to be over after a first-lap collision damaged his rear wing and forced him to pit for repairs. However, a Safety Car on Lap 18 gave Audi the opportunity to call di Grassi in for his mandatory pit stop and switch to his second car. The strategy meant he would have to make his second battery last for 28 laps.

When the race leader eventually pitted, di Grassi miraculously took control of the race, running an extreme energy-saving mode strategy while defending from Jean-Eric Vergne. Despite the challenge facing him, di Grassi held on to the lead and took victory.

Later that year, di Grassi then finished seventh in the Montreal finale, which was enough to secure the 2016/17 Drivers' Championship, despite Sebastien Buemi holding a 10-point advantage over the Brazilian driver heading into the final race. Unfortunately for Buemi, a 10-place grid penalty, due to a practice crash and battery replacement put the Swiss driver on the backfoot and helped neutralise his advantage.

Looking back at the publicised rivalry between the two Formula E Titans at the time, he said: “At the time, I hated him. When you are competing, you want to win. Of course, you have to have that spirit, and if you don't have that spirit, you should not be a professional sportsman.

“He was the guy to beat. I had him in my mind, many, many days of my life, that I was on the treadmill, and I put myself to run 10 kilometers. At the end of the 10km, I would say, no, no, no, I need to beat him, I'm gonna run another two. And that pushes you outside of your comfort zone, which makes you go to areas that you never go to in a normal day life. I said to him (Buemi), thank you very much for pushing me.

WATCH: "You are my champion" - Formula E says goodbye to Lucas di Grassi

“Now, I look back and I'm very thankful for that rivalry and the fact that we had that competition. I only achieved what I achieved because I had to pull myself out of my comfort zone.”

The start of a lifelong passion

Di Grassi’s path to the top step of motorsport was anything but straightforward. With no family background in competitive racing, he began his career at his uncle’s kart shop in Interlagos, making his competitive karting debut at the age of 10. From there, he progressed through the junior-single seater ranks, winning the Macau Grand Prix in 2005 and finishing runner-up in the GP2 series (the predecessor of FIA Formula 2) before reaching Formula One with Virgin in 2010. In 2012, he became an Audi factory driver, giving his career a degree of stability after years of moving between different categories.

When asked if there was anything he would’ve done differently, he said: “The only thing I learned through my career that I wish I'd learned earlier is to focus on what I want and only on what I can control. I would tell my younger self to keep doing what I'm doing, worry a bit less, and focus on the process instead of trying to imagine the future.

“There were a lot of ifs, and if I look at the negatives, there was a chance I would never make it out of karting. I wouldn't have even started karting if my father hadn't asked me to go and try it.

“If I didn't want to race for Alejandro (Agag) in Formula 2, I probably wouldn't have been involved in Formula E. That relationship created a long-term connection, when I started the series, he was the first one involved.

“I have zero regrets. I think that if you gave 100% of what you could do in that specific moment, and you thought it through as best as you could, that's a decision.”

One decision, however, would have a lasting impact on the latter stages of his career. After Audi vacated its Formula E license at the end of 2021, di Grassi joined Venturi for what was ultimately a one-season spell. He made an immediate impression, taking victory at the 2022 London E-Prix, Round 14. It was the result that appeared to put him in an ideal position to continue with the team as it transitioned into the GEN3 era under the Maserati name.

Instead, di Grassi chose to join Mahindra Racing, a decision he now describes as his biggest career mistake. He explained, “One decision, for example, was that I could have stayed at Maserati, but I signed with Mahindra. By the time I went to Mahindra, Dilbagh (Gill) left Mahindra. So the guy that signed me, and I went there; there was no CEO anymore.

“I had Mahindra, then I had the CUPRA, which used the Mahindra powertrain, which wasn't great at the time. Then I started a new project with Lola, and it was like starting from scratch again.”

He continued, “What you have to understand is that in the life of a racing driver, most of the time, you don't know what you're going to do next year. So you finish the season, and you don't even have the money, or you don't have the team, or nothing. You're fighting for your life every year. It's very stressful. That's life. I don't regret it.”

Saying goodbye to Formula E

Di Grassi closed his Formula E chapter at the London ExCeL, hanging up his racing suit with a smile, after a bittersweet weekend.

Carrying a three place-grid penalty from the penultimate double-header of the season in Tokyo for failing to slow down under Red Flags, di Grassi started Saturday’s race from the back of the grid. His afternoon then unravelled further. A five-second penalty for speeding under a Full Course Yellow was followed by a technical failure on Lap 19 that sent him into the barriers and brought his race into an early end.

Sunday’s race offered little consolation. The Lola Yamaha ABT driver was forced to stop during Free Practice 3 with another technical problem, before being handed a 20-place grid penalty, which was converted into a 10-second stop-and-go penalty. Once again, luck decided to not be on his side. After 18 laps, his engineer instructed him to stop the car due to an electrical issue, bringing his final Formula E race to an abrupt conclusion.

Yet, despite the disappointment in the season finale, di Grassi had already written a fitting final chapter just a few weeks earlier. His unexpected victory in Shanghai gave him one last taste of success and one last visit to the Formula E podium.

REPORT: Di Grassi seals spectacular Shanghai E-Prix Round 13 win on final lap

As he left the paddock on Sunday evening, di Grassi was able to look back on his career with a sense of satisfaction. He asserted, “It was an amazing run. Unfortunately, I exploded 3 power trains, so there was nothing I could do, but you wouldn't have changed much.

“I think we took the victory in Shanghai as the high point of the season. I retire with a sense of duty done.

“I'm sad, but I'm happy that it's over. I'm relieved. I have a lot of plans in my head that I wanted to accomplish for many years now. I'm gonna focus on those, but I will keep coming to Formula E.”