Di Grassi on Battersea finale: “I’d do exactly the same again”

The championship battle between di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi went down to the second London race, which ended with Buemi being crowned after a first-corner collision between the duo.

Afterwards, Buemi slammed his rival not only for causing the clash, but then for trying to block his attempts to set the fastest lap, and claim the point needed to beat di Grassi to the title.

But, reflecting on the events of the London showdown, di Grassi insists he did nothing wrong, and that he wouldn’t do anything differently next time around – adding that, for him, the title was really lost in Mexico, where he lost a win for a technical infringement.

“I lost the championship in Mexico, not in London,” di Grassi told Motorsport.com. “Mexico was a big disappointment, but in London I did everything correct with the car I had.

“I qualified on Saturday a second quicker than Buemi and I kept him behind; Sunday I was seven tenths quicker than anyone bar the Renaults, but they were nine tenths in front of me.

“I had to take the risks I had to take, I don’t regret anything.

“If we arrived in the same situation, the same scenario next season, I’d do exactly the same – try everything I can, taking every risk that I had do to try to win it.”

‘We have to step up’

Looking ahead to the new season – for which public testing at Donington Park begins on Tuesday – di Grassi said that catching up with season two pacesetters Renault e.dams will be a must for his Abt Audi Sport team, as he expects the entire grid to be closer together.

“I think not only Abt, but the whole field will close the gap [to Renault e.dams],” said the Brazilian.

“I hope to be closer to the Renaults because there will be other challengers: DS [Virgin], Jaguar, Techeetah, which has Renault power, Dragon has a new car.

“We can see the new car is a step forward, but we have to step up.”