FIA Formula E championship leader Lucas di Grassi found himself the centre of media attention in Paris after an interview with CNN saw the Brazilian’s mention of former F1 colleagues Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel go viral.

Asked how his former competitors would fare in the electric racing championship, di Grassi said that the move would not be an easy one.

"They would have a hard time coming to Formula E,” the Brazilian told CNN in the run-up to the Paris ePrix. "They are fantastic drivers, they are the most talented drivers of our generation and maybe, I would say, almost our lifetime, but if they come to Formula E they would find it hard.

"They will have to learn the tracks, because all the tracks are brand-new, they are all city tracks, you cannot practise on the tracks. I think I will invite them to come to race, even if it's just one race, and see how it is. I'm sure they would be tough competition, but they would have a hard time."

At the official ePrix drivers’ press conference, di Grassi took advantage of his turn with the microphone to clarify his earlier comments, heaping praise on his former rivals and on the category currently furnishing the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport driver with on track success.

“Of course, I’d like to comment on something I said on CNN,” di Grassi told the attendant media in Paris. “They mentioned that I said Vettel and Hamilton would have a difficult time in Formula E.

“I said that, and I mean it. They are the most talented guys of our generation - maybe our lifetime - to be clear I do not say that they won’t succeed, but the car is so different, Formula E is so difficult to drive, the format of the weekend is so different from anything else. They would take time to adapt.

“As we have seen, a lot of very good drivers did not succeed in Formula E,” the Brazilian racer continued. “The 18 drivers who are here on track are extremely good - they’re extremely fierce competition. Nearly half of the grid is racing also in the WEC, which is a completely different car.

“You can take some stuff from one to another, because in the end you need to be energy efficient in both, so some of the things you learn in one [category] you take to the other, but I think we’ve done the jump from WEC to Formula E so many times that you get used to it.”