"A great result" - Lucas di Grassi gives Yamaha a successful Formula E home race in Tokyo

Lola Yamaha ABT had celebrated its first podium in Miami which was followed by a bitter setback in Monaco three weeks ago. Lucas di Grassi struggled with the development status of his car in the Principality. He demanded updates because he did not believe he could score points regularly with the Lola racing car. Just two weeks later, the Brazilian took a strong fifth place in Tokyo with the Yamaha powertrain.

The rainy Saturday in Tokyo brought neither Zane Maloney nor Lucas di Grassi the desired success, although the Lola cars in Monaco were even faster in the wet than in the dry. All the more surprising was di Grassi's strong performance in dry qualifying on Sunday. After Mitch Evans' crash at the end of the group stage, he only drove one warm-up lap - unlike the other drivers - and this strategy enabled him to win the group! Although it was over for him against Jean-Eric Vergne in the quarter-finals, sixth place on the grid was still a huge success.

Di Grassi drives a magnificent 2nd half of the race

The starting phase was not particularly promising for the former champion: he lost six places and dropped back to 12th place. In the second half of the race, he was able to utilise his second Attack Mode particularly effectively and fight his way through the field. In the end, the experienced driver crossed the finish line in fifth place in the supposedly inferior Lola T001. He was delighted: "This is a great result, which was mainly due to the fact that we had a lot of local fans cheering us on in Japan, the home country of our partner Yamaha", says di Grassi.

He was also able to draw an encouraging conclusion for the team from the success: "Tokyo is a completely different track to Miami, where we achieved our first podium finish. That is why it is important for the team to score points here in a tough race and show that we have the pace to be competitive anywhere." While Miami was a high-speed track, Tokyo offered a very technical course. At both tracks, di Grassi made it into the duel phase of qualifying, but luck also played into his hands in the Miami race.

Driver of the day and Tokyo Takumi @LucasdiGrassi had this special message for you guys after the race. pic.twitter.com/DjzXa861Tt

- Lola Yamaha ABT (@Lola_Yamaha_ABT) May 18, 2025

Lola Yamaha ABT travels to Shanghai stronger than ever

The team, newly partnered for season 11, scored 25 points over the last three race weekends. This was a significant improvement for Lola, but their direct rivals - Envision and Cupra Kiro - performed even better and were able to further extend the gap to bottom-placed Lola. However, this did little to dampen the mood of team principal Thomas Biermaier: "Today was a very positive day, which was handled well by the entire team, and Lucas did a great job on the track."

Formula E will be racing in Shanghai at the end of the month, on 31 May. Lola's Head of Motorsport Marc Preston believes in the car and his team: "Although we have had our challenges, we come away from the double-header in Tokyo feeling even more positive about the speed and potential of the Lola T001. We are looking forward to competing in Shanghai and hopefully scoring more points."