Mahindra Racing leads FIA Formula E championship with season- opener win

The fourth season of the FIA Formula E Racing Championship, the world’s first fully-electric international single-seater street racing series which opened in Hong Kong yesterday, saw India’s Mahindra Racing come up trumps.

For Season 4, the team is running its newly developed M4Electro race car that pushes the limits of technology and innovation. On November 30, Mahindra & Mahindra had announced Renesas Electronics Corp as its official technology partner for its Formula E team. Both companies are to also leverage their strengths for EVs, powertrain, ADAS and other systems.

Meanwhile, amidst two chaotic season opening races at the Hong Kong ePrix, Mahindra Racing saw both heartache and victory. Third place on Saturday in the first race, for Nick Heidfeld, and a non-points finish for Felix Rosenqvist (due to a technical infringement) saw a positive, but less-than-ideal start to the season. However, Sunday’s race saw Felix Rosenqvist start from pole position, drop to 11th and then brilliantly work his way up to finish second across the line. He then inherited the race win when Daniel Abt’s Audi was excluded from the results due a technical infringement, which gave Mahindra Racing their first victory of the season. Nick Heidfeld had a difficult second race initially due to being held up by Felix’s first corner incident, and then a software issue that caused him to temporarily stop on track and rejoin the race nearly a lap down.

Mahindra Racing is now leading the Team’s Championship by 3 points after the first two races. 

Courtesy: FIA Formula E.com

Team principal and CEO Dilbagh Gill said, ”Although we made a few mistakes and let ourselves down a bit, I’m happy that the team has picked up where we left off last year and that we have been the first team in the short history of Formula E to record a perfect score of pole position, race win and fastest race lap. We could have had even better results from the whole weekend, but for now, we’re happy with the race win, the podium, pole, and fastest lap. I’m confident that we’ve got a product that’s going to be strong and very competitive for the whole season.”

Commenting on the race, Nick Heidfeld said, “On Saturday, I had a perfect launch off the line, and a very quick pitstop resulted in a strong podium position, but possibly, it was one of my most disappointing career podiums ever, because I had such a quick car, but Jean Eric-Verge did some solid defending in front of me, and although I pushed to the limit I couldn’t quite make it past him.

"In the second race, I was unlucky to face a technical issue that required me to stop temporarily on the circuit and reset, and hence not bring any points home. The positive thing to take away is that we have a car that is really good and quick, and we have 12 more races head of us, so we can make them count." 

Felix Rosenqvist said,“We haven’t really had an idea of what our M4 car is like on a street circuit until now, but this weekend really showed that we have the pace to be very competitive. For sure, we made a few mistakes, but we also got a lot of things right. I struggled with my brake balance through the weekend, and I feel we could have been even better, but for now, I’m happy to start the season like this. The pole position, win and fastest lap shows that we can mount a serious challenge this year, and that we’re ready to work hard and go for both championship titles”

Out of Africa
The next race takes place on January 13, 2018 in Marrakesh, Morocco. The venue returns to the calendar for the second successive year to the FIA Formula E Championship and the teams are already familiar with it.

Mahindra Racing is one of 10 founding teams – and the only Indian team – to compete in the FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first all-electric racing series. The M3Electro race car, launched for season 3 which concluded in July 2017, proved to be a competitive package getting the team’s first race win, a total of 10 podiums, three pole positions and two fastest lap awards. With these strong results, Mahindra Racing secured third place in the Teams’ Championship and rookie driver Felix Rosenqvist took third in the Drivers’ Championship. 

What is the FIA Formula E Championship?
The FIA Formula E Championship is the world’s first fully-electric international single-seater street racing series. Consisting of 10 teams and 20 drivers, Formula E delivers world-class racing to 11 cities over five continents, throughout the seven-month Championship season. Bringing racing rivalries to city streets, set against some of the most iconic skylines in the world –New York, Hong Kong, Paris and Rome – Formula E is racing, reinvented.

But it’s more than just a racing series. Formula E serves as a competitive platform for global car manufacturers and mobility providers to test and develop road-relevant technologies. With 11 inspiring partners and 10 global car manufacturers involved including India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, the series acts as a catalyst, helping to refine the design of electric vehicles and improve the driving experience for everyday road car users all over the world.

In 2012, the concept of all-electric international single-seater racing was born. FIA President Jean Todt developed the idea as a means to demonstrate the potential of sustainable mobility. Inspired by this vision, Formula E Founder and CEO Alejandro Agag created a global entertainment brand with motor racing at its heart. 

Since making its global debut in the grounds of the Olympic Park in Beijing in 2014, Formula E has become a destination for the world’s best drivers, teams and manufacturers. Now in its Fourth season, the Championship boasts one of the best driver line-ups in motorsport, with an exciting calendar of host cities and increasingly innovative technology on the track.