Its 20 years since a gangly Paulista kid called Lucas di Grassi arrived in England to race for the Hitech Formula3 team, taking up residence in a small flat in Oxford, a far cry from his Sao Paulo homeland.
Since that time di Grassi has twice come close to the GP2 title, got podiums at Le Mans with Audi, raced briefly in impossible circumstances in Formula 1 and become Formula E World champion in 2017.
But more than that, di Grassi has also forged a reputation as one of the more cerebral racing drivers ever to set foot in a racing car, espousing a variety of interesting technical and philosophical opinions on the sport he loves and beyond.
The 39-year-old is a United Nations clean air ambassador, has multiple business interests and also still races for the Abt Cupra Formula E team in the all-electric World championship.
“As a kid, I just wanted to win all the time”
Lucas di Grassi
Lately, di Grassi’s Formula E career has come full circle as he has rejoined the Abt organisation after seasons at Venturi and Mahindra. His last ePrix victory came at the 2022 London ePrix.
We caught up with him recently to pose some readers’ questions and look back on a varied and vibrant racing career that shows no signs of dimming just yet.
Question: How did the motor racing passion start for you?
James Hilton
Via email
Lucas di Grassi: “The di Grassis had a small history in racing as my uncle [John di Grassi] competed in the UK briefly [in the 1983 Esso FF1600 series] but only for fun.
“I think ultimately there are two things. I am a competitive guy and I like engineering. When I was a kid it didn’t matter what I was doing, I just tried to win at everything. I like more the winning, the sensation of winning than the racing itself. Then as soon as you start to go into the sport and you start to understand all the complexity and beauty of it, you start to challenge yourself. It becomes something bigger and bigger; it becomes something that you fall in love with.
“But maybe I’m a bit different from the other drivers too. I feel that if I was to be winning doing something else, another sport, I would be as happy as winning in racing. It’s just happened for me that it is in racing.
“I think my love for engineering definitely helped on this path. I don’t think I’m the most gifted or talented driver but maybe others didn’t work as hard as me
