Di Grassi responds to rival Buemi's criticism
ByAutoSport
Published 24/07/2017 at 16:01 GMT
Lucas di Grassi has responded to criticism from Formula E title rival Sebastien Buemi ahead of next weekend's Montreal season finale, suggesting the reigning champion struggles to cope with pressure.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Buemi warned di Grassi last week about a repeat of the pair's collision on the opening lap of the 2015/16 title decider at Battersea Park, saying it had soured their relationship.
Abt driver Di Grassi, who trails his rival by 10 points ahead of the final two races of the current season in Montreal, responded to Buemi's criticism by suggesting the Renault e.dams driver was susceptible to the pressure of a title fight.
"He [Buemi] lost the championship in season one with quite a simple mistake when he spun on his out lap [in the 2015 season decider at Battersea Park] and lost it all," di Grassi told Autosport.
"So you can see he has a few problems in this area.
"Everyone feels pressure in a different way of course.
"He has pressure big time this weekend, much more than me, because everyone will be waiting to see if those mistakes come again in Montreal."
Di Grassi has one victory to his name from the current season while Buemi - who missed the recent double-header in New York due to clashing World Endurance Championship commitments - has won six races.
"It's fair to say that Buemi and Renault should have wrapped the title up by now, but as we saw they had problems in Mexico and obviously there was a circumstance quite out of their control at New York," di Grassi continued.
"There are many 'ifs', but what's important now is the state of the championship as it stands.
"We go to Montreal with a good chance after maximising everything this season.
"The pressure is on him. If he doesn't have a good weekend I will win the championship.
"The title is more difficult for me obviously, so I'm going to try to win and if I win both races I'll be the champion.
"I'm going to take more risk than I would if I were 10 points ahead. I have little to lose and a lot to win.
"Buemi can only really lose it and as we have seen in the past both he and the team can make mistakes."
Responding to Buemi's suggestion that he "talks too much", di Grassi added: "I don't take any reference of his opinions or what they are really. I just act in my natural and normal way.
"This is my approach and if he's happy or not happy with it, it's completely irrelevant to me.
"He seems to have strong opinions still about Battersea and the way I behaved and if it's not the way he thinks I should behave then again I say it's irrelevant to me.
"It's ancient history now."
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