Mahindra Team Principle and CEO Frederic Bertrand claimed there were “mixed feelings” following the team’s second podium finish of the season in the two Formula E rounds in Jeddah. Edoardo Mortara bought home a podium finish in Race One while his teammate, Nyck De Vries failed to score points in each race. The Mahindra team lept up to third in the Formula E standings but were painfully aware that a bigger points haul slipped out of their grasp in Jeddah.
An opportunity gone amiss for De Vries as Mortara leads the team in Race 1
While his teammate stormed to a second place finish, Nyck De Vries was forced to watch from the garage in Jeddah.
The Dutchman was set to line up eleventh on the grid but a technical issue meant the Mahindra driver couldn’t start the race.
“It was very unfortunate,” admitted the Season 7 Formula E champion. “It is a shame because there was clearly a lot of pace in our package, as we saw with Edo. We had the potential to pick up good points.”
“I am happy for the team though as Edo did have a great qualifying and race, and bought a lot of points for the team. Today was not my day but it is a new day tomorrow and I hope to be able to show what we are capable of.”
On the other side of the garage though, Mortara was leading the Mahindra team to glory. The Swiss driver claimed pole and translated his qualifying success into a second place finish, his second of the campaign.
“(It was) a very good and positive day,” Mortara explained after the first race in Jeddah. “We had a really good, solid qualifying where we managed to snatch pole position. We also showed good pace in the race.”
Despite the podium finish, Mortara was also left painfully aware that a possible victory slipped out his grasp. Wheelspin off the grid saw the Mahindra driver drop down to sixth before he recovered back to second.
“Unfortunately we struggled at the start and that made us drop several positions,” explained the Formula E veteran, now in his eighth season in the championship.
“However, because we had good pace, we were able to come back and finish in second place. It is the second podium this season out of four races, which is a real positive. I hope that in tomorrow’s race we can achieve another good result for the team.”
De Vries woes continue into Race 2 as Mortara scoops the points
It was Mortara again,providing the goods for Mahindra as the Swiss driver claimed back-to-back pole positions for Race 2 in Jeddah. De Vries, however, was left at the rear of the field for most of the race. The Dutchman was forced to serve a ten second stop-go penalty along with a grid penalty.
Qualifying proved fruitful again and Mortara led away from the line before energy conservation became paramount, dropping him to fourth.
A strong defensive performance holding off the Kiro drivers meant Mortara left Jeddah delighted with his weekend performance. The Swiss driver departed the Middle East sitting second in the Formula E driver’s standings. “Overall it was quite a positive weekend,” explained Mortara post-race.
“Today’s race was a bit difficult, we lacked a little bit of pace but to finish fourth is still a good result. It was a tough race to read with when to use Attack Mode but we still did a good job.”
De Vries on the other hand left Jeddah with a bitter taste in his mouth. “It was always going to be a difficult day today,” lamented the Mahindra driver.
“After our issues yesterday we took a penalty for the race today. We needed a safety car to be able to show what we could do but we were unlucky.”
Bertrand and Mahindra excited ahead of Formula E race in Madrid
Despite a weekend that provoked “mixed feelings,” CEO and Team Principle Frederic Bertrand encouraged his Mahindra team to use the time before Formula E arrives in Madrid to “make sure we are all in the best possible shape.”
Mahindra currently sits third overall in the Formula E constructors standings after Jeddah, 12 points adrift of Jaguar ahead. Mortara also sits second in the driver’s standings, now just six points off championship leader Pascal Wehrlein.
“It was another good race for Edo today after a big fight at the front of the field,” detailed Bertrand. “It rounded out a good weekend for us overall with 36 points, hitting out target for each race which is great for the championship.”
Speaking after the Jeddah E-Prix Mortara said “We showed we are consistently strong. It will be great to head to Europe and get on track at Jarama after a break.”
De Vries, on the other hand, continues to struggle down at the rear of the championship standings. Just one points finish in the last four races, leaves the Dutchman 50 points adrift of his teammate in thirteenth.
“This has been a weekend to forget for me but sometimes these things happen in racing,” admitted De Vries.
“There is a little gap to Madrid which will give us a bit of time to regroup. The positive has been the pace from the team and from Edo, which has been strong all weekend. That gives me the confidence that we can be challenging near the front very soon.”
Bertrand echoed De Vries’ optimism, explaining that the team had to run him on a different strategy following his penalties.
“Nyck was unlucky today again because we had to run him on a different strategy in case of a safety car appearing and it didn’t. But, the positive is that the car is working well after the changes we made overnight.”
