Di Grassi "positively surprised" by Lola/Yamaha powertrain progress in testing

Lola/Yamaha powertrain has been racking up the miles, with series stalwart di Grassi encouraged

Lucas di Grassi says he is "very positively surprised" by the Abt Formula E team's progress in testing with its new Lola/Yamaha powertrain that will debut in December.

The most experienced driver in Formula E's history will continue his uninterrupted stint in the all-electric championship by remaining with Abt, the German squad having ditched the customer Mahindra powertrains it has used since returning for the Gen3 era in favour of newcomers Lola/Yamaha.

The programme marks the first major motorsport undertaking for Lola since its resurrection in 2022 by British businessman Till Bechtolsheimer after the storied brand had entered administration in 2012.

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Speaking to Autosport, di Grassi says the project has been "born in a very impressive way" since its first shakedown in June, with preparations intensifying for the 2024-25 season that begins in Sao Paulo on 7 December.

"From how complex a task it is to develop a powertrain from scratch and software from scratch and a whole team from scratch, I'm very positively surprised on the level of organisation and where the team is at this stage," said di Grassi, who won the 2016-17 title with Abt when it ran Audi's works team.

"We've done more than 2,000 or 2,500 kilometres with the car in a very reliable way. There is a lot of progress. The car is running very smoothly. It looks very efficient from my perspective, it looks very good.

"I don't know how relative to the others how good we are until we go to Valencia testing [from 4-7 November].

"But in terms of mileage, in terms of people, how everybody is involved [things are positive]."

Among the most notable technical changes for the new season, as Formula E introduces its modified Gen 3 Evo car, will see the introduction of all-wheel drive for attack mode, qualifying duels and race starts.

Di Grassi explained that this has been an important focus in testing, and says he has already been struck by the increased performance that results from sending 50kW to the front axle.

"Just reaching the 50kW in the front sounds like not so much, but it changes the car completely and the car is between 1.5 and two seconds faster," the Brazilian added.

"So the four-wheel drive will change massively the dynamic of the strategies in the race with attack mode and will change massively how you how you drive the car, which lines you take and how do you approach that."

Di Grassi's team-mate has yet to be announced, after Nico Muller departed to join the Andretti Porsche squad.

Meanwhile, Lola has appointed Peter McCool as its technical director, with predecessor Mark Tatham moving into a consultant role.

It marks a second stint for McCool at Lola, having previously worked at the Cambridge manufacturer between 2009 and 2012, and reunites him with Lola motorsport director Mark Preston after their time at the Super Aguri Formula 1 team.

Lola has already committed to Formula E's Gen4 rules, although Yamaha has yet to do so.