Venturi Formula E Team Principal Susie Wolff believes that Edoardo Mortara's points finish at the Santiago E-Prix demonstrates the progress that the Monegasque squad has made so far over the course of Season Five.
In Santiago, Mortara, who raced for Venturi in Season Four of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, recorded the team's first points finish of the 2018/19 campaign.
Starting from sixth place after previously qualifying in seventh due to Lucas di Grassi's disqualification from qualifying, Mortara had a strong run in the 45-minute + 1 lap affair to take fourth place, benefitting from a post-race penalty for Alexander Sims who spun the Swiss-Italian racer in the battle for fifth just over one-quarter of the way into the race.
By taking fourth, Mortara recorded his highest finishing position in Formula E since his podium at the 2017 Hong Kong E-Prix, pushing Venturi into eighth place in the Teams' Championship.
For Mortara's team-mate, Formula E rookie Felipe Massa, it was another tough day of racing, with the Brazilian driver failing to see the chequered flag after making contact with Maximilian Gunther and Oliver Rowland, retiring with crash damage.
Despite having one car retiring from the race, Wolff emphasised the progress that Venturi has made over the course of the first three E-Prix of Season Five, with Mortara's points finish acting as a clear demonstration to the team's progress:
“We’re really happy to score our first points – Edo [Mortara] did a fantastic job out there," she said.
"I think this result demonstrates that we are making good progress.
"It was an action-packed race with mixed emotions for us after Felipe’s incident but overall a very positive outcome for the team.
"I was very pleased to see improved energy management for both drivers and our overall pace was really encouraging.
"We still have plenty of work to do but this race shows that we are on the right track.”
Formula E's fifth season of competition will continue on February 16 with the Mexico City E-Prix while the all-electric single seater series' final in-season group test will take place one day later, allowing teams to gather additional data before the remainder of the season.
