Happy birthday Lucas di Grassi!

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Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi celebrates his 32nd birthday today.

Di Grassi was born in Sao Paulo on this day in 1984, and worked his way up through Formula 3 in Brazil and then in the UK before moving on to become a stalwart of the new GP2 Series from 2006 for four seasons, which included finishing as runner-up in 2007 and picking back-to-back third place finishes in the championship standings in 2008 and 2009.

He got his chance In Formula One the following year with Virgin Racing, and he stayed with the team as a test driver the following year before seeking new challenges in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the all-electric FIA Formula E series. As well as finishing in second place in this year's Formula E, di Grassi has also been on the podium three times in the last four 24 Hours of Le Mans,

Here he is during his penultimate Grand Prix weekend in 2010, his home event in Brazil, where he was supported by no less a sporting legend than two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who was also twice winner of the famed Indianapolis 500. Not that it seems Fittipaldi's iconic status has made him safe from some good-natured mocking from di Grassi regarding his famous thick sideburns!

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.