Lucas di Grassi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lucas di Grassi
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Di Grassi in 2018
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| Born |
Lucas Tucci di Grassi
11 August 1984 São Paulo, Brazil
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| Spouse(s) |
Bianca Diniz Caloi
(m. 2013) |
| Children | 1 |
| Formula E career | |
| Debut season | 2014–15 |
| Current team | Lola Yamaha ABT |
| Racing licence |  FIA Platinum |
| Car no. | 11 1 (2017–2018) |
| Former teams | Audi, Venturi, Mahindra |
| Starts | 147 |
| Championships | 1 (2016–17) |
| Wins | 13 |
| Podiums | 41 |
| Poles | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 12 |
| Finished last season | 17th (32 pts) |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Years active | 2012–2016 |
| Teams | Audi |
| Starts | 28 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Podiums | 14 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 2nd in 2016 (LMP1) |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Brazilian |
| Active years | 2010 |
| Teams | Virgin |
| Entries | 19 (18 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 2013–2016 |
| Teams | Audi |
| Best finish | 2nd (2014) |
| Class wins | 0 |
| Previous series | |
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| Championship titles | |
| 2005 2016-17 |
Macau Grand Prix Formula E |
Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born August 11, 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver. He is famous for competing in Formula E, a racing series for electric cars. He currently races for Lola Yamaha ABT.
Di Grassi competed in Formula One in 2010. He won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship. In endurance racing, he finished second in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016 with Audi.
Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Lucas started racing go-karts when he was ten. He quickly became successful in karting. He then moved on to car racing in 2002. He finished second in the Formula Renault 2.0 Brazil and Formula 3 Sudamericana championships.
He won two races in the 2004 British Formula Three Championship. The next year, he won a race in the Euro Series. He also won the special Macau Grand Prix. After that, he spent three years in the GP2 Series. There, he won four races and was the runner-up in 2007.
Di Grassi raced in Formula One with the Virgin Racing team in 2010. After that, he became an official tire tester for Pirelli in 2011. He helped develop new tires for racing. For four seasons, he raced for Audi Sport Team Joest in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He achieved two victories and a best finish of second place in 2016. Since 2014, di Grassi has been a top driver in Formula E. He has won thirteen races and the 2016–17 Drivers' Championship.
In July 2020, Lucas di Grassi helped start the ESkootr Championship. This is a racing series for electric scooters. He also became its Sustainability Ambassador. The championship began in May 2022.
Contents
About Lucas di Grassi
Lucas di Grassi was born on August 11, 1984, in São Paulo, Brazil. His family is from Italy. Even though his family wasn't involved in racing, his uncle owned a go-kart shop. Lucas would visit every weekend to drive karts when he was young.
He went to Santa Cruz High School and later studied Economics. Lucas married Bianca Diniz Caloi in 2013. They have one son, Leonardo, who was born in 2018. He lives in Monaco.
Lucas also cares about the environment. In 2007, he started a group called Smarter Driving to help save fuel. In 2018, he became a clean air ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. He stays fit by doing triathlons. He is also a member of Mensa, a group for people with high IQs. Besides Portuguese, he speaks English, Italian, Spanish, and some French.
Early Racing Days
Karting and Junior Races
Lucas di Grassi started karting at age ten. His father, Vito, encouraged him. Lucas won a karting series in São Paulo in 1997. He continued to win races in South America. In 2000, he finished fifth in the Formula A World Championship. That same year, he won the Pan American Kart Championship.
In 2002, Lucas began racing cars in Formula Renault 2.0 Brazil. He won two races and finished second in the championship. In 2003, he moved to Formula 3 Sudamericana. He won one race and had eleven podium finishes. He ended up second in the championship, even though he missed the last six races due to a neck injury.
In 2004, he moved to the United Kingdom to race in the British Formula Three Championship. He won two races at Thruxton. He finished eighth overall that season. He also came third in the Macau Grand Prix.
In 2005, Lucas joined the Formula 3 Euro Series. He had a big crash at the start of the season but recovered well. He won a race at Oschersleben and finished third in the championship. He also won the Macau Grand Prix by passing Robert Kubica after a safety car.
GP2 Series and Formula One Testing
In 2006, di Grassi moved to the GP2 Series. He struggled with his team that year. In 2007, he joined ART Grand Prix. He consistently scored points and was a contender for the championship. He won his first GP2 race at Istanbul. He finished second in the championship to Timo Glock.
Lucas did not plan to stay in GP2 in 2008. He was busy testing new cars for Formula One. However, he joined Campos Racing later in the season. He won three races and finished third in the championship. This was impressive since he raced fewer events.
In 2009, di Grassi hoped to race in Formula One with Renault. But they kept their current drivers. He also tested for Honda. When Honda left Formula One, he stayed in GP2 with Racing Engineering. He won one race and had six more podium finishes. He finished third in the drivers' standings again.
Formula One (2010)
On December 15, 2009, Lucas di Grassi was announced as a driver for the new Virgin Racing team. His teammate was Timo Glock. Lucas retired from the first two races due to car problems. His best finish was 14th at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
He faced more issues throughout the season, including clutch and suspension failures. He impressed the team with his feedback. However, his pace compared to Glock was a concern. He finished 24th in the Drivers' Championship with no points. After the season, Virgin Racing chose another driver for 2011, leaving Lucas without a seat.
Testing and Sports Car Racing
2011–2014
In 2011, Lucas became a tire test driver for Pirelli. He helped develop new Formula One tires. He also tested for Peugeot, a sports car manufacturer. However, Peugeot stopped racing in 2012. Lucas continued his testing role with Pirelli in 2012.
He made his first endurance racing appearance in 2012. He raced for Audi Sport Team Joest in the World Endurance Championship. He finished third in his first race. He also competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship and the Macau GT Cup.
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Audi offered Lucas a contract in late 2012, which he accepted. In 2013, he raced for Audi in the 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing second. He also raced an experimental car at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His team finished third in both races.
In 2014, Lucas was a full-time driver for Audi in the World Endurance Championship. He finished second at Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans. He also had several other strong finishes. His team ended up fourth in the drivers' standings.
2015–Present
Lucas continued with Audi in 2015. His team finished fourth at Le Mans despite a crash. They also achieved one podium finish that season. In 2016, he secured his first victory in the World Endurance Championship at Spa-Francorchamps. His team finished third at Le Mans.
He also raced as a guest driver in the Audi Sport TT Cup, winning one race. Lucas, along with his teammates, finished second in the 2016 World Endurance Championship. They won Audi's final race in the series at Bahrain.
In 2017, Lucas was unable to race at Le Mans due to an ankle injury. He returned to Macau for the FIA GT World Cup but retired after an accident. In 2018, he joined Mazda Team Joest for a race. In 2019, he made a special return to the Stock Car Brasil Championship. He took pole position and won the race, but was later disqualified.
Formula E (2012–Present)
Formula E is a racing series for electric cars. The series promoter, Alejandro Agag, asked Lucas to help develop the electric race car. Lucas was unsure at first but became interested in the idea of environmentally friendly racing. He became the official test driver for Formula E in 2012. He helped develop the first prototype electric car.
On February 13, 2014, Lucas di Grassi announced he would race in the first Formula E season. He joined Audi Sport ABT.
ABT Sportsline (2014–2021)
2014–15 Season
In September 2014, Lucas won the first-ever Formula E race in Beijing. He was the first driver to win an all-electric motor race. He had two more podium finishes, leading the championship early on. However, he faced bad luck with car problems in later races. He was disqualified from a victory in Berlin due to illegal car changes. He finished third in the championship that season.
2015–16 Season
Lucas started the 2015–16 season with three podium finishes. He won in Putrajaya and took the championship lead. He was disqualified from a win in Mexico City because his car was too light. He bounced back with wins in Long Beach and Paris.
Heading into the final race, Lucas had a small lead over Sébastien Buemi. In the last race, Lucas and Buemi collided. Both drivers had to switch cars and battle for the fastest lap point. Buemi ultimately won the championship by a very small margin.
2016–17 Season
Before the 2016–17 season, Lucas drove an electric car on the Arctic polar ice cap. This was to raise awareness about global warming. He started the season with strong finishes. He won his first race of the season in Mexico City. He then finished second in Monaco.
Lucas had some tough races but kept fighting. He gained points when Buemi missed a race. Heading into the final races in Montreal, Lucas was only ten points behind. He won the first Montreal race and finished seventh in the second. He took advantage of Buemi's struggles and won his first Drivers' Championship! After the season, he became the CEO of Roborace, a series for self-driving race cars.
2017–18 Season
Lucas continued with Audi Sport ABT in 2017–18. He had a difficult start with no points in the first four races due to car issues. But he made an amazing comeback. He had seven podium finishes in a row, including wins in Zürich and New York City. He finished second in the Drivers' Championship. His strong performance helped Audi win their first Teams' Championship.
2018–19 Season
Lucas won the 2019 Mexico City ePrix by passing Pascal Wehrlein right at the finish line. He also won in Berlin later that year. He finished third overall in the championship standings with 108 points.
2019–20 Season
Lucas scored his first podium of the 2019–20 season in Diriyah. He finished sixth in the championship. This was his first Formula E season without a race win.
2020–21 Season
Lucas won the first Puebla ePrix after another driver was disqualified. He had some bad luck in Rome with car failures. In London, he was disqualified for not serving a penalty. He finished the season in seventh place. He also competed in some Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races.
ROKIT Venturi Racing (2022)
2021–22 Season
Lucas moved to Venturi Racing for Season 8 of Formula E. He started strong with a fifth and third place finish. He then had some tough races. In New York, he finished second. He won the second race in London. A third place in Seoul meant he reached over 1000 points in Formula E. He finished the season in fifth place.
Mahindra Racing (2023)
2022–23 Season
Lucas di Grassi joined Mahindra Racing for the 2022–23 season. He started well by taking pole position and finishing third at the Mexico City ePrix. He called it "like a Mexican miracle." However, he scored fewer points in the rest of the year. He left the team after the season ended.
Return to ABT (2024–)
2023–24 Season
Lucas returned to ABT CUPRA for the 2023–24 Formula E season. He had a challenging season, finishing 23rd with only 4 points.
2024–25 Season
Lucas di Grassi continues with ABT for the 2024–25 Formula E season. The team is now using Lola powertrains. He is teamed up with Zane Maloney, a new driver from Formula 2.
Driver Style and Ideas
Lucas di Grassi is known as a very skilled racing driver. He helped develop important race cars like the Formulec and the Spark-Renault SRT 01E. He is also known for being calm and good with the media.
He has shared his thoughts on racing, like criticizing the design of the Halo safety device in Formula One. He also thinks track layouts should be changed to make racing more exciting. Many people think Lucas should be more involved in the future of motor racing. He has even said he would like to run for the presidency of the FIA, which is the world's governing body for motorsport.
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See also
In Spanish: Lucas Di Grassi para niños
