Matt Brabham youngest driver in the Formula-E field

Matt Brabham had a challenging race in his first Formula E event on the streets of Putrajaya (Malaysia) bringing his Andretti Formula-E machine home in 13th position.

He created history by becoming the youngest driver to ever race in a Formula E event at the age of 20 and simultaneously the first American and Australian to race in Formula E by virtue of his dual nationality.

After qualifying ninth, almost a second up on teammate Franck Montagny, Brabham was caught out on the opening lap with cold brakes, which saw the 20-year-old spin his machine.

During the Safety Car for another first lap incident, Brabham pitted to repair some damaged bodywork.

Upon resumption of hostilities, Brabham was involved in a spirited fight with Bruno Senna, the pair seemingly locked together for much of the race.

The event was action packed, with a number of incidents and two safety car periods during the one hour race.

The end of the race looked like it would may have been twisted with an infamous Malaysian monsoon, however that didn’t eventuate.

Following the race, Brabham was impressed with the race pace that he was able to produce from the Renault Spark SRT_01E, however commented that the one day formula for practice, qualifying and the race was a huge challenge.

Brit, Sam Bird took a dominant win, while Lucas Di Grassi took the Championship lead through his second placed finish.

The next round of the FIA Formula E Championship will be conducted on the streets of Punta de Esta, Uruguay on December 13.

Matt Brabham: “We had some fantastic race pace today and I think we could have achieved a very good result if it wasn’t for the incident on the first lap. I was probably a bit aggressive, if I approached it differently, I may have got the job done and not had the outcome we did.

“That messed with our strategy a bit, but to bring the car home 13th with the crashes and incidents that were happening out there isn’t a bad finish.

“The day was really tough - learning the track through practice, qualifying and racing in one day was an extreme challenge.

“I’m so grateful to Andretti Formula-E for the opportunity to do this event and hope that I may get the opportunity to do it again in the future.

“Sharing a track with that field with the combined experience out there is just an invaluable experience for me.”

Brabham Racing