until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Rene Rast’s progress during his first Formula E races for Audi in Berlin last week was best described by those he went wheel-to-wheel with, according to his team boss Allan McNish.
Rast, who had previously made just one FE appearance with Aguri four years ago, was drafted into the team to replace Daniel Abt.
Despite having just two half test days before Tempelhof, double DTM champion Rast claimed a total of 29 points – 11th best for the Berlin week.
“Andre didn’t expect him to have the extra energy and was surprised at the robustness of the move” :: Allan McNish
That was also 21 points more than Abt had scored in the preceding five races and ensured that Audi was able to keep its sixth position in the final teams’ standings.
A maiden podium position was achieved in the penultimate round at Berlin after Rast made the most of advantageous track evolution and qualified third, and then won a tough late battle with Andre Lotterer.
Rast’s average qualifying position from initially the fourth, and then for the final race, third group was 12th, while team-mate Lucas di Grassi’s Berlin average starting position was 13th from group one in five races and the group two in the last encounter.
“His last two races were extremely impressive and beyond what we as a team, thought he was going to be able to deliver,” McNish told The Race.
“I suppose the best credit he can get is from Andre and Sebastien [Buemi].
“Andre said that he didn’t expect the move he did, he didn’t expect him to have the extra energy and was surprised at the robustness of the move.
“Then for Sebastien to come to me on the grid for the final race and say ‘wow, he’s been impressive’ was pleasantly surprising, because we in the team can think all we want but that’s the competition speaking right there.
“Those guys that know what it’s like, they know how hard it is.
“His engineer was extremely good in giving him guidance on where to focus his energies, and Rene listened and did it” :: Allan McNish
“Andre knew how hard it was when he came in [to Formula E], Sebastien’s been in it for all these years and won races and a title.
“They have jumped between different cars and formulas, so for me, that was a much more interesting statement.”
McNish said of Rast that he didn’t have “many expectations because I wasn’t 100% sure how it would go relative to the competition”.
“For Rene, it was definitely an emotional rollercoaster and big learning curve because he was thrown into the deep end and had limited testing,” continued McNish.
“He was straight into races and having to sort of battle his way through it when everybody was fighting at the end of the season for championship positions.
“You can see just how aggressive it was and I’ve got to say Rene took quite a few punches at the beginning.”
McNish identified the nuances of Formula E qualifying where Rast adapted particularly well, describing his incrementally strong performances as showing “getting attuned super quickly”.
“It’s not like in DTM, where you’ve got a brand new set of tyres and you can pump it into the first corner with a little bit more aggression, brake a little bit later and still make the apex,” he added.
“His engineer Chris [de Coninck] was extremely good in giving him a view and guidance of where to focus his energies, and Rene listened and did it.”
Audi is expected to make its final decision on its 2021 driver line-up next month.
Di Grassi is believed to have a contract already, with Rast now the clear favourite to partner him.
