de Silvestro learns plenty en route to 11th place on Formula E debut

Andretti’s Simona de Silvestro may only have finished 11th in her debut FIA Formula E race on Saturday, but the Swiss driver felt that she learned plenty in her first run with the series’ car at Battersea Park.

The IndyCar driver was confirmed to be racing at the double-header London ePrix two weeks ago, and got her first taste of the Formula E car on Saturday during practice.

After qualifying 17th, de Silvestro managed to fight her way up to 11th at the end of the race, narrowly missing out on a points finish.

“It was okay,” de Silvestro told MotorSportsTalk. “It was an interesting race. For sure, you know 11th is okay. It’s not something to be happy about, but the biggest thing [is] going through the race, you understand everything and that’s really the key to it.

“Our race pace was okay, but we have to start more up front and really focus on that tomorrow.”

De Silvestro explained how it was quite tough to get to grips with the Formula E car, but is keen to return to the track tomorrow with that experience under her belt.

“It’s actually pretty tough to be honest,” she said when asked by MST about the challenge of adapting to the car. “The brakes are quite different to any car I’ve ever driven, and that’s the biggest challenge I’ve had today.

“Throughout the race I learned a little bit more how to push them and how to push the car. The biggest thing is that it’s so different, and having such little practice, understanding everything is quite tough when you’re racing against people who’ve been doing it for a whole year.

“But yeah, it’s okay. It’ll be good to sleep over it and come back tomorrow.”

The final race of the inaugural FIA Formula E season takes place in London on Sunday at 4pm local time.