CHALLENGING DAY FOR MAHINDRA RACING IN SWITZERLAND

22 JUNE 2019, BERN, SWITZERLAND – Despite showing strong pace today in Bern at the Swiss E-Prix, round 11 of the 2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship, it was a disappointing day for Mahindra Racing. The penultimate weekend of this season saw Jérôme D’Ambrosio finish in 15th after receiving a drive-through penalty which took him out of contention for a points-scoring position. Pascal Wehrlein was forced to retire on lap 11 of the race from fourth with a technical issue.

The Mahindra Racing team showed a strong pace throughout the morning’s preparations, with Pascal topping the timesheets in Free Practice 2 and then securing the team’s sixth Super Pole appearance of the year. In qualifying, the German-Mauritian set the fourth fastest time in the shoot-out to line up on the second row of the grid. Jérôme started on the sixth row from eleventh.

It was a frenetic start to the 45-minute race when a multi-car accident at turn 13 involving both Pascal and Jérôme blocked the track and brought out the red flag. Both cars were able to make it to the pits and rejoin from their original grid positions when the race restarted under a safety car, albeit with Jérôme making up a position as Robin Frijns retired on the opening lap.

On lap 9, Jérôme was handed a drive through penalty for being deemed to have caused a collision on the opening lap and he was therefore forced into the pits to serve the penalty from tenth. He emerged in 19th and then gained a position when Pascal suffered a technical issue on lap 11, which caused his car to stop on track. Jerome then made his way up to 15th to take the chequered flag.

DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne won the Swiss E-Prix, with Mitch Evans from Jaguar second and Nissan’s Sebastien Buemi in the final podium position.

The 2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship will come to its conclusion in New York, with a double-header event taking place on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July 2019.

“We had absolutely mega pace today in the race, it was the fastest car we’ve had all season and I felt really comfortable in it. It’s a real shame that we couldn’t fight because I think, even with qualifying not going the best it could, that we could have been in contention for a top six finish. The positives are that we have this great car and we will aim to show what it can really do at the final two races in New York.”

Jérôme D'Ambrosio

“I have loved racing here in Bern; the track is one of the best Formula E circuits I’ve experienced. Combined with the fact we had great pace all day and started from the second row, it is very disappointing that we could not convert that into a strong finishing position but the car shut down when we were running in fourth so unfortunately that put an end to our race. We aim now to be on the podium at the last two races.”

Pascal Wehrlein
Dilbagh Gill