Di Grassi sets sights on official role to help motorsport’s future

Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi is keen to pursue an official role in motorsport management in the future in a bid to help develop racing.

Di Grassi, 33, was the first driver to test a Formula E car back in 2013, and has been a key figure within the electric racing series’ paddock since its inception.

Earlier this year, the Brazilian was named as the new CEO of Roborace, the autonomous motorsport project working in tandem with Formula E, and regularly speaks up on issues surrounding the future of racing.

Speaking at the FIA Prize Giving press conference in Paris last week in front of select media including Crash.net, di Grassi confirmed his interest in taking up an official role in racing somewhere in the future.

“I love the sport that I do, and I think sometimes, especially in the current time that we are, things are evolving very fast, and we are not matching this advancement in some of the points that the sport could evolve,” di Grassi said.

“I think Formula E’s a good example of it, that I helped to create with Alejandro [Agag] from 2012. Now I’m involved in Roborace, which is the autonomous side.

“Motorsport, in my opinion, should be a driver-centred sport. It should be the sport of motorsport, not really much about who has the best car, which is why again I like Formula E because it’s so driver-centred. Even if I'm doing Roborace, it’s actually to follow this pattern, to help motorsport.

“So yes, I would like to take an official role in the future. I would like to help motorsport if that is the way forward. I would definitely like to be part of it.

“I don't know if that’s only with Formula E or electric or everywhere, or advising the president of the FIA.

“Anything that I could do to help the sport, I would be more than happy to do so.”

Di Grassi responds to crash warning system backlash

One example of di Grassi’s ideas to improve the future of motorsport came recently when he suggested an automated GPS crash warning system on Twitter, only to face a backlash.

“The FIA has all the sensors, accelerometer, GPS, all the data from all the cars. So if one car, like at Macau, generates a high peak G in a point of the track he was not supposed to generate that, it means that he crashed,” di Grassi explained.

“A racing car does not generate 15 G or 10 G. So if he does that, it means there is a crash. By GPS positioning you can say if the car is in front of you or behind you.

“If the car is in front of you, there is a light on the dash that glows yellow automatically, without anyone having to press a button with the same information.

“We don’t have the same race director and marshals, especially in the base categories and amateur series. So we need a system that reacts fast.

“A system like that may have avoided a lot of crashes because first you don’t need to look for the flag, if you’re following someone. It’s much brighter if something is in front of you. And then it does not react as a human component.

“I was heavily criticised.”