ABT CUPRA remains without points at anniversary race in Mexico

Lucas di Grassi and Nico Müller experienced a tough afternoon at their team’s 100th Formula E race and failed to score any points in front of more than 40,000 fans at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. Müller started the race from twelfth position, was spun by a rival early on and battled his way to the finish line with a damaged car in 17th place. Teammate di Grassi was forced to retire after just two laps with a brake failure.
 
The season opener in front of the enthusiastic Mexican fans was the 100th race for ABT CUPRA in the history of Formula E, which began with a victory by Lucas di Grassi in September 2014. The 2024 season will continue in just two weeks with two races in Diriyah (Saudi Arabia, 26 and 27 January).
 
Thomas Biermaier, ABT CEO and Team Principal: “For our 100th race and the season opener, especially in front of these fantastic fans, we would of course have wished for a different race. In the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday we repeatedly saw glimmers of hope with good lap times. But we were also reminded of how much work we have to do in the coming days and weeks. Lucas’ race came to an early end with a brake failure that we will have to investigate in detail. After a collision through no fault of his own and without a rear wing, Nico bravely fought his way to the finish and at least collected important data. The good news is that we’ll be back on the track in two weeks.”
 
Lucas di Grassi, #11 (Qualifying P19, Race DNF): “I would like to thank the Mexican fans for their incredible welcome and their great enthusiasm for Formula E and us drivers. I had a problem with the brakes right from the start of the race. We came into the pits and tried to fix it, but it didn’t work and we had to retire. It wasn’t our day today – but we won’t let it get us down and we’ll be back in Diriyah.“
 
Nico Müller, #51 (Qualifying P12, Race P17): “We were able to show our potential a few times in practice, but the race ended quickly after the collision – the fact that the competition was penalized for this is of little use to us. We’ll put this behind us, because in a few days we’ll be in the simulator preparing for the races in Saudi Arabia. We’ll take the positives and hope for more luck in the races.”