Nyck de Vries secured podium finish at Sanya E-Prix after post-race penalty promoted Mahindra Racing driver from fourth to third in final classification.
The Dutchman endured chaotic race that included front-wing damage, multi-car incident at hairpin and Red Flag interruption before mounting impressive recovery drive. Meanwhile, teammate Edoardo Mortara suffered a difficult afternoon that ended in retirement despite showing strong pace throughout the weekend.
Result continues Mahindra Racing’s positive run of form as team remains third in Formula E Teams’ Championship heading into Shanghai.
Strong qualifying performance lays foundation
Mahindra Racing entered Round 11 of the Formula E season with encouraging pace after topping the practice sessions.
Mortara carried that speed into qualifying and recorded the sixth-fastest time in Group A, leaving him 11th on the grid.
Meanwhile, de Vries progressed through to the Duels after finishing second in Group B. Although Dan Ticktum eliminated him in the Quarter Finals, the Dutchman secured fifth on the starting grid.
Nyck de Vries recovers through chaotic Sanya race
De Vries lost position at start and sustained front-wing damage following contact with Sébastien Buemi on the opening lap.
However, both Mahindra drivers began moving forward once they activated Attack Mode on Lap 12. Mortara briefly climbed into race lead and battled with Nick Cassidy, Dan Ticktum and Pascal Wehrlein before dropping back as rivals deployed their own Attack Mode allocations.
His race took another dramatic turn on Lap 20 when de Vries became caught in multi-car traffic jam at hairpin. The incident triggered a Red Flag and dropped him to 16th position.
Following the restart, de Vries capitalised on the reshuffled order and moved back into contention while Mortara’s race unravelled further.
Mortara retires despite promising pace
After the restart, Mortara lost ground before a technical issue involving the fire extinguisher and kill switch forced his retirement.
Reflecting on the difficult race, Mortara said:
“It was looking quite good after Free Practice, and then things moved in the wrong direction in Qualifying and in the Race. Qualifying didn’t go our way for whatever reason, and we started in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, we had contact which damaged our front wing, and the race ended with a technical issue with the extinguisher, which went off by itself.
“It wasn’t the luckiest day, but we proved again that when we get the car in the right window, we’re quite competitive.”
Late promotion secures Nyck de Vries Sanya E-Prix podium
De Vries activated his final Attack Mode on Lap 34 and produced a strong recovery drive in the field.
The Mahindra Racing driver set the fastest lap of the race before climbing to fourth position by Lap 37. Although Pepe Martí overtook him late in race, penalty for António Félix da Costa appeared set to secure podium finish.
Initially classified fourth, de Vries later inherited third place after Felipe Drugovich received a post-race penalty at Sanya E-Prix.
Reacting to the result, de Vries said:
“Finishing where we did was really positive after the race we had. It was very challenging and chaotic.
“We did a good job in Qualifying, getting ourselves into the top five, and the team did a great job to put me in a position to come back at the end, especially with the strategy, but it was a very messy race overall.”
Mahindra Racing encouraged despite mixed weekend
Despite Mortara’s retirement, Mahindra Racing left Sanya E-Prix with valuable points thanks to de Vries’ podium and fastest lap.
Team Principal and CEO Frederic Bertrand praised the team’s resilience while acknowledging the missed opportunity.
“It’s frustrating that we couldn’t capitalise on the pace we showed in the practice sessions, but the way both drivers fought through the field showed the car had the potential this weekend.
“The way Edoardo’s race ended was very unfortunate, but the fact that most of the top drivers in the championship didn’t score meant the damage was limited in terms of points. With Nyck narrowly missing out on a podium, after almost getting stranded at the hairpin before the red flags, we can be pleased that we managed to score solid points on such a difficult weekend.”
Following Sanya E-Prix, de Vries remains 10th in Drivers’ Championship, while Mahindra Racing holds third place in Teams’ standings ahead of Shanghai double-header on 4-5 July.
