Formula E | Di Grassi responds to Marko's provocations: "The future of racing is electric"

Interviewed by motorsport.com yesterday, Lucas Di Grassi responded to provocations launched by Helmut Marko on Formula E, underlining how the Austrian is 'too old' to undertake a challenge in the Circus managed by Alejandro Agag.

According to the Brazilian, in fact, the term 'purist' can have different meanings and nowadays it cannot be associated with Formula 1, given that the Circus also uses electric propulsion to increase engine performance.

Here are the words of Lucas Di Grassi: “Audi earns more here than in Formula 1. The fact is that the future will be electric and therefore this category helps us understand which factors limit us, which materials are best and how to develop software for the engine. Today's development will be used in the electric car of the future."

“You already know how the combustion engine works – continued the Brazilian – while with Formula E you can discover a new, more efficient and economical way of racing. We do this and I'm not just talking about Audi, but for all the other teams. We are experiencing a much broader commercial development than Formula 1. Dr. Marko claims that he is a racing purist, but I think this is a false argument. The term 'purist' depends a lot on the meaning that each person attributes to it”.

“What exactly does his thought state? If he is a purist then he should defend races with internal combustion engines only, without hybrid systems like in Formula 1. He should defend cars with manual gearboxes, without paddleshift. This is his opinion to say 'look, I don't want to compete in Formula E, I'm too old for this'. F1 is still the most important category in the world, no one can deny it, but the future of manufacturers is electric."he concluded.