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Mahindra Racing returns to action in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship under the lights in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia this weekend [26-27 January].
The season-opener in Mexico City a fortnight ago proved to be an illuminating affair for the team, with driver pairing Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries recovering from a lack of meaningful track time (due to the fire in Valencia) to fight their way through the order.
The Mexico race week has helped the team identify new avenues for development ahead of Saudi Arabia, as Mahindra continues to push towards returning to championship contention in the coming seasons.
The event in Diriyah &ndash; round two on a 16-race schedule - also marks the first of six double-header events for Formula E in Season 10. Both days of the event &ndash; Friday and Saturday &ndash; will feature a practice session, qualifying and an E-Prix.
First introduced to the FIA&rsquo;s all-electric series back in Season 5, the layout in its current guise presents a true test &ndash; long straights, heavy braking zones and an infamously twisty middle sector.
It&rsquo;s a circuit that has treated both of the team&rsquo;s drivers kindly in years gone by. Mortara claimed the third of his six career victories at the UNESCO World Heritage site back in Season 8. De Vries was the other victor on that particular double-header weekend, and the Dutchman has an additional win &ndash; plus two poles &ndash; to his name in Diriyah.
Looking ahead to the weekend, Nyck de Vries said: &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve mentioned this before, but Diriyah is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. It&rsquo;s very quick, and cool to drive in a Formula E car.
&ldquo;Even though it&rsquo;s not a real street circuit, it feels like one because it&rsquo;s narrow, high-speed and the walls are everywhere. I&rsquo;m looking forward to going back there, and continuing the season.&rdquo;
Team-mate Edoardo Mortara, added: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a track where I have enjoyed good results in the past, but this season is a little bit different because of the journey we are on as a team.
&ldquo;Everyone at the factory has been working extremely hard since Mexico to analyse and understand the data we gathered there. Hopefully that will help us make another step forward in Diriyah. I&rsquo;m looking forward to getting back to it.&rdquo;
Casting an eye over the team&rsquo;s performance as a whole, CEO and Team Principal Frederic Bertrand explains: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been very impatient to get to Diriyah. Almost as soon as the race in Mexico was over, I wanted to keep going and to work on what we have learned. At least the gap is only two weeks!
&ldquo;It has meant a lot of hard work and preparation for everyone with such a quick turnaround. It&rsquo;s a race where both drivers have been successful in the past. My hope is that we can at least match our performance in Mexico, and to deliver both drivers with the tools they need to achieve an even better result.&rdquo;

Mahindra Racing prepares for Diriyah double-header under the lights

Mahindra Racing today confirms Frederik Vesti will participate in the upcoming ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Rookie Test following the Berlin E-Prix [13 May] with the team.
The Danish star is one of the standout names to emerge from the FIA&rsquo;s single-seater pathway in recent times, amassing an impressive 37 race victories and 81 podium finishes across stints in Formula 4, Formula Regional, Formula 3 and Formula 2.
It is for Vesti&rsquo;s stint as one of the stars of Formula 2 that he is perhaps best known, with the 22-year-old from Langelund narrowly finishing runner-up in a scintillating title fight last year, scoring an impressive six victories and 10 podiums along the way.
Since departing Formula 2, Mercedes F1 Reserve Driver Vesti has been a pillar of the team&rsquo;s simulator programme, and concentrated his racing efforts on sportscars in the European Le Mans Series, but will get his first experience, both in Formula E and the GEN3 car, with Mahindra Racing at the upcoming Rookie Test.
Lining up alongside one of Formula 2&rsquo;s contemporary leading lights and one of Mahindra&rsquo;s current Reserve Drivers, Kush Maini, Vesti will get a full day of running around the Tempelhof Circuit &ndash; re-designed for 2024 - on the Monday following the Berlin E-Prix weekend.
In preparation, he has already visited Mahindra&rsquo;s purpose-built facility in Banbury for a seat fit, and to begin building up his knowledge and understanding of the car on the team&rsquo;s simulator, before getting behind the wheel of the real deal next month.
Excited for the opportunity to sample Formula E for the first time, Frederik Vesti said: &ldquo;First of all, I&rsquo;d like to say a big thank you to Fred for giving me this opportunity. It&rsquo;s a great chance to test, and to prove myself as a rookie in a new championship.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an amazing opportunity to learn, which is only going to help me grow as a driver. It&rsquo;s what motivates me, I&rsquo;m really looking forward to trying the GEN3 Formula E car, which I understand is quite a challenge.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s probably what I like most about Formula E, it is challenging and the fact it&rsquo;s a competitive World Championship that attracts some of the best drivers &ndash; and teams &ndash; is a great platform for me.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve finished up my preparations together with the team, so now I&rsquo;m counting down the days until Berlin!&rdquo;
Speaking on the news, Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal, Frederic Bertrand, said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re delighted to welcome Frederik to the team for the Berlin Rookie Test.
&ldquo;This event is important for the team, in order to continue our testing programme and development work, but there is an equal focus on giving new talent the opportunity to experience the world of Formula E.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s young, enthusiastic, and very quick &ndash; all the right traits for us to give him a chance in the car. His record in the junior categories speaks for itself.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident that, with a drivers of Frederik&rsquo;s abilities and experience, and together with Kush, we will be able to have a productive test and keep the team moving forward from there.&rdquo;

Mahindra Racing confirms Frederik Vesti for Berlin Rookie Test

Mahindra Racing was left frustrated in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship this weekend [27 April] after an incident-packed Monaco E-Prix.
Arriving on the iconic streets of Monte Carlo for the eighth round of Season 10 in the FIA&rsquo;s all-electric series, the team's duo of Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries qualified on the fringes of the top ten, in P12 and P13.
Set against the backdrop of the French Riviera, the streets of Monaco are known worldwide for their glamour, speed and "thrill-a-minute" nature, meaning overtaking opportunities are often scarce.
So, it proved to be the case for de Vries. Despite managing his energy consumption better than all his nearest rivals, his strategy was hampered by a late-race safety car, and as such he was only able to advance a position up to P12.
The race ended prematurely for Mortara, with a technical problem leading to contact with the barriers on the inside of the Louis Chiron chicane.
The Swiss-Italian racer had made up ground on the competition during a typically hard-fought opening few laps, demonstrating the M10Electro's potential in race trim for future rounds.
The next stop on the calendar is Berlin, and two E-Prix on a re-designed layout of the Tempelhof Airport circuit [11-12 May].
Speaking after the race, Edoardo Mortara said: "There was a technical problem on the car, which made it impossible to avoid hitting the wall.
"We need to work quickly to understand why it happened, and then look forwards to Berlin."
His team-mate Nyck de Vries added: "It's a shame we weren't able to maximise our potential in qualifying, which put us back in the midfield and where it can get messy.
"From there, it was difficult to make progress, which is often a characteristic of Monaco. I won't be racing in Berlin but I'm looking forward to attending on Sunday and supporting the team."
Mahindra Racing's CEO and Team Principal, Frederic Bertrand, gave his assessment: "We feel the improvement in performance is there, but up until now, things haven&rsquo;t gone our way yet. We will keep pushing as a team together with the same spirit, enthusiasm, and motivation, and move forwards to Berlin.&rdquo;

Mahindra Racing endures incident-packed Monaco E-Prix

Mahindra Racing is aiming for a change in fortunes as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship makes port in Monaco this weekend [27 April].
The Banbury-based team endured a frustrating weekend last time out in Misano, Italy, where a disrupted programme in practice had a knock-on effect throughout the rest of the double-header.
Both Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries underlined the potential of the team&rsquo;s M10Electro in race trim on Sunday, with a combined 11 positions gained on a battling drive through the order, but the team&rsquo;s quest for points continues from the Adriatic Coast to the French Riviera this time out.
The atmosphere on the historic streets of Monte-Carlo is always charged, not least when the FIA&rsquo;s all-electric series rolls into town for what is, undoubtedly, a &lsquo;jewel in the crown&rsquo; event on the Season 10 calendar.
As the undisputed temple of street racing worldwide, the Principality&rsquo;s prestige for drama and high-speed entertainment is unrivalled, a fact both hometown hero de Vries and Mortara will be hoping to take full advantage this weekend to bounce back quickly from the disappointment of Misano.
It&rsquo;s an event often billed as &ldquo;the one they all want to win&rdquo;, a feeling that de Vries is more familiar with than most. The Dutchman can count two Formula 2 victories in Monaco amongst his silverware-laden CV, including a Sprint win in 2017, and the Feature Race two years later en route to the title.
Mortara is also an experienced hand around the 2-mile course, with six previous starts &ndash; a factor that could come into play where the consequences of even the smallest mistake can be severe.
In a slight change to the usual format, drivers will take part in two 30-minute practice sessions on Saturday morning, ahead of arguably the most important qualifying session of the year, with overtaking opportunities at a premium during the E-Prix.
The race itself starts at 15:03 (CEST) on Saturday afternoon. Find out how to watch in your region here: <a href="http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/ways-to-watch">www.fiaformulae.com/en/ways-to-watch</a>
Looking ahead to the trip to Monaco, Edoardo Mortara said: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what to expect in Monaco, everything has been so unpredictable this season.
&ldquo;I really hope that we can be competitive. I had good pace there last season, especially in qualifying, so hopefully it&rsquo;ll be the same this time. The aim is to improve our race pace, this is the weakness at the moment. We&rsquo;ve identified some issues, and we are aiming to come back on track stronger.
&ldquo;Misano has shown us that we still have quite a bit more progress to make, and the whole team is pushing hard. The positive in these kinds of situations is that it highlights the issues and areas you still need to work on, so work is underway to find some solutions.&rdquo;
At what is something of a home race, given his Monaco residency, Nyck de Vries added: &ldquo;Every race is a new opportunity. It was a tough weekend for us in Misano for various reasons, and I&rsquo;m looking forward to getting back out there again.
&ldquo;Everyone always enjoys coming to Monaco for the right reasons, it&rsquo;s a very special venue to race at. Hopefully we can have a better weekend, and I&rsquo;m looking forward to racing at &lsquo;home&rsquo;.&rdquo;
Giving his assessment of the weekend ahead, Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal, Frederic Bertrand, commented: &ldquo;Re-building is never a straightforward process, and it&rsquo;s very difficult to make progress without occasionally also having setbacks.
&ldquo;Misano was one of those weekends for us, but we have an opportunity to put it right quickly, and to get a result at Monaco this time out.
&ldquo;The objective again is very simple: we want to be fighting for a place in the Duels in qualifying, and from there to execute a strong race and to compete for points.&rdquo;

Mahindra Racing chasing improved fortune on the streets of Monaco

Mahindra Racing showed great resilience during a character-building weekend [13-14 April] in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at Misano.
Arriving in Italy with momentum on its side after an encouraging step forward in Tokyo a fortnight prior, the Banbury-based team was unfortunate to lose valuable track time during practice with a technical fault on the #48 car of Edoardo Mortara.
On a brand-new circuit for the FIA&rsquo;s all-electric series, that relative lack of laps on the board versus the competition translated to two difficult qualifying sessions, leaving both Mortara and team-mate Nyck de Vries with it all to do on Saturday afternoon.
From P13 on the grid, Mortara made a lightning getaway in the first of two races around the 2.1-mile Adriatic venue and gained an initial two places on the run down to the first corner, but a technical fault moments later forced the Swiss-Italian racer to park up at his home event.
Meanwhile, de Vries was able to advance from P19 to P14 at the chequered flag to set the tone for a more encouraging showing in Sunday&rsquo;s second contest.
Starting P19 and P20, both cars opted for a more aggressive strategy. With two fewer laps on Sunday versus the day prior and, therefore, with relatively more useable energy available, both drivers went on the attack.
A typically hard-fought start to the E-Prix put both Mortara and de Vries firmly among the pack vying for the final points-paying positions.
Expertly managing both mandatory Attack Mode activations - and a safety car interruption after Edo narrowly managed to avoid being caught in another car&rsquo;s accident - they eventually took the chequered flag P13 and P15 respectively, a collective gain of 11 positions.
Taking encouragement from that performance, Mahindra Racing returns to action on the world-famous streets of Monte Carlo in a fortnight [27 April] for the Monaco E-Prix.
Reflecting on a weekend where qualifying ultimately prevented him from scoring his first points of the season, Edoardo Mortara said: &ldquo;Obviously this has been a difficult weekend. We had a lot of technical issues on Friday, and this meant it was tough for us to get the right data on a new circuit, and to get into a proper rhythm with the car.
&ldquo;This meant we struggled in qualifying and that put us too far back on the grid for the races, but we made as much progress as possible.
&ldquo;It is frustrating after two better races in Sao Paulo and Tokyo, but now we need to go away and understand these issues to come back and be better in Monaco.&rdquo;
Having twice charged through the pack, Nyck de Vries commented: &ldquo;Overall, we are a little bit disappointed, we would have liked to use the characteristics of this track to our advantage and benefit from the strange races we&rsquo;ve seen here.
&ldquo;I still feel that we made some more progress. In terms of consistency, I felt in a better place but in our sport, we are rewarded and judged by the points we score. Unfortunately we haven&rsquo;t been able to do that this weekend, but it&rsquo;s just part of the process.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had two good weekends prior to this one, and this seems to just be one with a few more challenges. But we&rsquo;ll come back and try again in a couple of weeks in Monaco.&rdquo;
Defiant despite a tricky trip to Emilia-Romagna, Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal, Frederic Bertrand said: &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t the weekend that we wanted in Misano, but we have to keep everything in perspective &ndash; this process of re-building is never straightforward, and of course we will experience some issues along the way.
&ldquo;What is important now is that we understand as a team what we should have done differently and look ahead to implementing those learnings in Monaco next time out.&rdquo;

Mahindra Racing resilient despite character-building trip to Misano 

Mahindra Racing confirms Jordan King will make his ABB FIA Formula E World Championship debut at the Berlin E-Prix next month [11-12 May] as he substitutes for Nyck de Vries.
With de Vries unavailable to participate in the double-header around Tempelhof Airport due to a pre-existing commitment to race in the WEC on the same weekend, the team will utilise the services of King, one of its two existing Reserve Drivers.
The 30-year-old&rsquo;s extensive CV in international single-seaters includes stints in the IndyCar Series, FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3. King has previously acted as Test Driver for the Manor Racing Formula 1 team, and currently holds a simulator and development role with Alpine F1 Team.
King has extensive knowledge and experience with Mahindra&rsquo;s M10Electro, having already completed eight test days &ndash; plus countless hours on the team&rsquo;s simulator back at base &ndash; as part of his regular duties.
In preparation for Berlin, King will also participate in the designated &lsquo;Rookie Free Practice&rsquo; &ndash; or FP0 &ndash; ahead of Rounds 6 &amp; 7 of the season at Misano this weekend [13-14 April].
De Vries&rsquo; team-mate Edoardo Mortara will race in Berlin, as planned.
Previewing his Formula E debut, Jordan King said: &ldquo;It goes without saying that I&rsquo;m hugely excited to make my debut in Formula E next month in Berlin.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a team that I know inside and out after four years of working together, and a car that I&rsquo;m already incredibly familiar with and helped to develop.
&ldquo;My focus is on keeping the team&rsquo;s momentum going on the development front, and of course to enjoy the opportunity to be out there racing again.&rdquo;
Also present in Italy this week will be Formula 2 star Kush Maini. &nbsp;The Indian talent is on site in Emilia-Romagna for his first race as one of the team&rsquo;s designated Reserve Drivers.&nbsp; His attendance will help further his development ahead of a planned outing at the Rookie Test following the Berlin E-Prix weekend.
The 23-year-old from Bangalore has enjoyed a promising start to the 2024 Formula 2 campaign, with a brace of pole positions and podium finishes from the opening six races, placing him fifth in the standings.
Looking ahead to his trip to Misano, Kush Maini explains: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to attending my first Formula E race as Mahindra&rsquo;s Reserve Driver.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a really good synergy at the moment between the work Nyck, Edo, Jordan and I are doing, but to a large degree it has been in isolation as we all have different schedules and commitments.
&ldquo;So, it&rsquo;s going to be really beneficial, not just for the team but also me as a driver, for all four of us to be in that race weekend environment and contributing towards the team&rsquo;s continued progression in the same room.&rdquo;
Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal, Frederic Bertrand added: &ldquo;Although it is frustrating to lose Nyck for a weekend because of a calendar clash, he has pre-existing commitments to honour, so we&rsquo;ve known for a while now that we will need to find a solution.
&ldquo;Jordan fits the bill perfectly, for us. He knows both the car and the team and has already played an integral role in our development so far this season, so there is no &lsquo;on-boarding&rsquo; process.
&ldquo;For Kush, Misano is a great opportunity for him to really embed himself within the race team, and then we can begin his preparation for the Berlin Rookie Test, which will be his first opportunity in the car.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re very excited to have him there with us, and to help him progress in what will be a new car for him.&rdquo;

Jordan King to substitute for Nyck de Vries at Berlin E-Prix

Mahindra Racing&rsquo;s return to form continues this weekend [13-14 April] as the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship visits another new venue in Misano, Italy.
The FIA&rsquo;s all-electric racing series swaps Tokyo Bay&rsquo;s waterfront for the coastline of the Adriatic Sea for Rounds 6 &amp; 7, with Mahindra arriving on a high after a season-best showing so far in Japan a fortnight ago.
Edoardo Mortara made it successive Duels appearances in qualifying, registering an impressive third on the grid. He would then go on to score the team&rsquo;s first points of the season on the road in the E-Prix, only to be disqualified post-race for a marginal energy overspend.
Nevertheless, both Mortara &ndash; who can count Misano as something of a home race with Italian heritage &ndash; and team-mate Nyck de Vries return to action in Emilia-Romagna with momentum on their side, and a re-invigorated garage looking to make good on the team&rsquo;s recent promise.
In prospect for them this weekend are two typically hard-fought and action-packed races around Misano&rsquo;s newly-adapted, 2.1-mile configuration specific to Formula E.
It may be a half-mile shorter than the full layout, but a lap around Misano certainly packs a punch, with a blend of high, medium, and low-speed corners, plus potential overtaking spots at Turns 1, 8, 9 and 12 for those brave enough on the brakes to take them.
It&rsquo;s a circuit which holds fond memories for Mortara, with a brace of podiums on his last visit as part of DTM back in 2018. That weekend, the 37-year-old finished third in the daylight, before going one better under the floodlights the next day and claiming second spot in race two.
In the usual double-header format, each day will feature one 30-minute practice session, followed by qualifying, then an E-Prix in the afternoon. Details on how to watch the race in your territory are available here: <a href="https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/ways-to-watch/">https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/ways-to-watch/</a>
Looking ahead to a weekend racing on home soil, Edoardo Mortara said: &ldquo;My focus in Misano is to continue the trends from Sao Paulo and Tokyo, and to be able to qualify towards the front, and to be competitive.
&ldquo;Hopefully we can aim for some points, this is now a realistic objective for us to have, and we were unlucky with an issue not to get them in Tokyo. But we&rsquo;ve proven we can finish inside the top ten, and this has to be our next goal.&rdquo;
Ready to make good on the team&rsquo;s recent steps forward, Nyck de Vries added: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to be racing again. As a team, we probably felt that we deserved a little bit more in Tokyo, so we&rsquo;re keen and motivated for this weekend.
&ldquo;Having said that, Misano is going to be a very different sort of event, the track has very different characteristics to, I would say, the previous two circuits. In some ways, it&rsquo;ll be similar to Brazil, because it&rsquo;ll be an energy sensitive race, albeit this time on a permanent track.
&ldquo;Racing in Italy is always good, and I enjoy going there, so let&rsquo;s see what we can get.&rdquo;
Rallying the troops ahead of what could be another crucial weekend in the team&rsquo;s mission to return to the front, Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal, Frederic Bertrand commented: &ldquo;The important thing for us this weekend to again confirm the steps forward we&rsquo;ve made, in terms of our qualifying pace.
&ldquo;Energy efficiency is also going to play a big role, with such long straights. It&rsquo;s also a home race of sorts for Edo, as he&rsquo;s half-Italian, so hopefully that gives him a platform to push even further than in Tokyo, where he was outstanding.
&ldquo;For Nyck, it&rsquo;s important that he again shows his qualifying pace, and hopefully manages to get through to the Duels this time, after getting progressively closer over recent races.
&ldquo;In the E-Prix, let&rsquo;s make sure that we finish and maximise our chance to get points. As with every race, we hope we&rsquo;ll be in the points, but Misano won&rsquo;t be the easiest venue to score them at.&rdquo;

Mahindra Racing continues return to form at Misano E-Prix

Mahindra Racing was close to securing its first points of the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix today [30 March], but post-race was disqualified for a marginal energy overuse.
Edoardo Mortara made it two successive Duels appearances in qualifying around the 1.8-mile Tokyo Bay Waterfront circuit, before knocking out reigning World Champion Jake Dennis in the Quarter Finals.
Despite losing out in the final four, Mortara&rsquo;s time &ndash; a 1:19.081 &ndash; was good enough to put the six-time E-Prix winner an impressive third on the grid, with team-mate Nyck de Vries cementing the team&rsquo;s improved showing, with a season-best result of 12th for the Dutch star.
At the start, a lightning getaway from Mortara allowed him to seize second with a bold lunge on the unfancied outside line into turn one. From there, the 37-year-old consolidated second spot on the road through the first of two mandatory Attack Mode activations.
In the build up to his second, a safety car forced the team to change strategies. When Edo did take his second Attack Mode &ndash; four laps from the chequered flag &ndash; it dropped him from third place to fifth. He defended stoically but lost out to another car on the line and finished sixth.
Sixth would have represented another strong step forward for the Banbury-based team, and its first points of the season, but a marginal energy overuse led to disqualification.
On the other side of the garage, it was a premature end to the race for de Vries. Taking action to avoid an incident immediately ahead of him lead to contact with another car and forced him into retirement from the race at half-distance.
Mahindra Racing will be back on track at Misano, Italy for Rounds 6 &amp; 7 of the season on 13-14 April.
Reflecting on a race of fine margins, Edoardo Mortara said: &ldquo;We had our strongest race day this season. Qualifying we were in the Duels again and ended in P3. We showed great progress, great competitiveness with the car.
&ldquo;The race was difficult.&nbsp; We know that we are down on energy efficiency compared to the others but we stayed with the leading cars. We spent pretty much the entire race in the top three but lost out a bit in the final laps and ended up finishing P6. We had an issue with a little bit of an energy overuse, so we need to understand what happened there.&rdquo;
Nyck de Vries summarised: &ldquo;I think the team really deserved more today results-wise after all the hard work they&rsquo;ve put in during our time together so far. I think we are showing progress, which is encouraging.
&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t quite work out for me today, I got tangled up in a collision, but that happens when you&rsquo;re in that area of the grid, and on these super tight tracks. Hopefully we can continue the positive trend forward and score points in the near future.&rdquo;
Despite the setback, Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal Frederic Bertrand took the positives from the race, commenting: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling happy, despite the result. And the main reason for that is the fact that we are competitive. From where we were, to be able to fight with the top teams is ahead of what we expected at this point.
&ldquo;It was important to confirm the step forward we made in Sao Paolo, and we&rsquo;ve done that with our performance again today in Tokyo.&rdquo;

Mahindra Racing consolidate progress at inaugural Tokyo E-Prix

Mahindra Racing breaks new ground this&nbsp;weekend [30 March] as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship stages the first ever Tokyo E-Prix. Ahead of a first race for the FIA's all-electric series in&nbsp;the Japanese metropolis, and the city&rsquo;s picturesque Tokyo Bay Waterfront, we caught up with Mahindra&rsquo;s race drivers Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara, plus Team Principal and CEO, Frederic Bertrand. Nyck, Edo &ndash; we&rsquo;ll start with the circuit. What are your initial thoughts on it? Edoardo Mortara: &ldquo;Learning a new track is never easy, it&rsquo;s always a challenge not only for us as drivers, but also for our engineers. I think we can put together a good setup between us.&rdquo; Nyck de Vries: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very twisty, so I think it&rsquo;ll be a different race to what we saw in Sao Paulo. A lot of corners, probably very difficult to overtake so qualifying will be more important. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to racing in Japan, it&rsquo;s a country with a very unique culture.&rdquo; Nyck - when you&rsquo;re on the simulator, learning a new venue, what do you look at first? Is it all about track familiarisation and then building it up from there? NDV: &ldquo;First priority is learning where to go left and right! And once you do, and you&rsquo;re familiar with it, sometimes it&rsquo;s helpful to be there with your team-mate, look at what he does and maybe he has a slightly different approach to certain sequences or corners. It&rsquo;s important to learn from each other.&rdquo; You&rsquo;re up to speed in GEN3 and battling for points with Edo, in only three race weekends. How useful has this collaboration between team-mates been? NDV: &ldquo;The team work between both cars has been very good, and I think we all share the same objectives. We both know that we need to push each other in the right way to help the team and drive our performance forward, we are very well aware of that. &ldquo;That collaboration with Edo, but also with the wider team, is going very well.&rdquo; Edo, I&rsquo;m not sure if you&rsquo;re aware, but until a couple of centuries ago, Tokyo was called &lsquo;Edo&rsquo; &ndash; does that make this a home race of sorts for you? EM: [laughs] &ldquo;I did hear that! The city was called Edo, but there are also some companies with the name &ndash; a lot of things are called &lsquo;Edo&rsquo; in Japan!&rdquo; What sort of racing should we expect to see on track in Tokyo? EM: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got no idea what to expect from Tokyo, and what conditions we&rsquo;ll face. I don&rsquo;t have a preference, only that I want the type of race where we&rsquo;re able to battle and score some points!&rdquo; How important was your qualifying performance in Sao Paulo last time out? Was that really the key to unlocking everything a bit more and being near the front for most of the race? EM: &ldquo;Qualifying is one thing, the E-Prix is the other. Unfortunately, it didn&rsquo;t go our way in the race, but if we can qualify better, for sure, it&rsquo;s going to help us avoid issues in the races, so this is the aim.&rdquo; And lastly, Nyck, how excited are you to see Formula E exploring new venues such as Tokyo? NDV: &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s great to be racing in cities, that&rsquo;s the DNA of the championship and that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s exciting. So, I&rsquo;m very pleased that the promoters have secured this deal with Tokyo, and that we&rsquo;re heading there this year.&rdquo; Fred &ndash; coming to you for a few closing thoughts &ndash; how are you feeling ahead of the trip to Japan? Frederic Bertrand: &ldquo;I think we have a good rhythm as a team now, so it&rsquo;s a benefit to us that we are back on track only two weeks after another improved performance in Brazil. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fantastic to also be racing in Tokyo. Racing in cities and on street circuits is the very DNA of Formula E, and it&rsquo;s exciting that even after ten years, the championship continues to push the boundaries and explore new territories and new audiences. &ldquo;For our team, hopefully it will be another productive weekend, and we can leave Tokyo with our first points of the season on the board.&rdquo;

Pre-Race Q&A: Tokyo E-Prix

Mahindra Racing hopes to capitalise on a season-best showing and score points as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship breaks new ground in Tokyo, Japan this weekend [30 March].
The FIA&rsquo;s all-electric series trades the scorching heat of Sao Paulo for the futuristic, sprawling metropolis of Tokyo this weekend, with the city&rsquo;s business district playing host to a 1.6-mile street circuit around the appropriately named &lsquo;Big Sight&rsquo;.
A race in the Land of the Rising Sun has been years in the making for Formula E, and could provide the perfect platform for Mahindra to ink the next milestone in the team&rsquo;s quest back to the front of the grid.
Morale is high after an encouraging display in Brazil, with Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries putting in a season-best qualifying result, before contact from another car denied both a likely chance of scoring the team&rsquo;s first points of the season in the E-Prix.
That qualifying form will be significant once again this time around on a track that, on paper, doesn&rsquo;t lend itself to easy overtaking. The circuit&rsquo;s bumpy surface and stop-start nature will present drivers with a physical test, with several off-camber corners and gradient changes to factor into the mix.
As a single-header event, Tokyo will take on the usual format, with two free practice sessions &ndash; one on Friday, one on Saturday &ndash; for teams and drivers to put their learnings from the simulator into practice in a real-world setting.
Qualifying follows later on Saturday morning, with the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix set to take place in front of a capacity crowd in the afternoon.
Prior to 1868, the city of Tokyo went by the name of Edo. Ahead of his first visit to Japan, the city&rsquo;s namesake Edoardo Mortara said: &ldquo;We definitely made some steps forward in Sao Paulo, I&rsquo;m hoping we can continue this trend in Tokyo and for the rest of the season.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re performing a little bit better, starting further ahead, and on a personal level, I&rsquo;m also excited to race in Japan, to visit for the first time and to experience that culture.&rdquo;
Buoyed by a season-best result in Brazil, his teammate Nyck de Vries added: &ldquo;The circuit looks very twisty. I think it&rsquo;s going to produce a different race to the one we saw in Sao Paulo.
&ldquo;There are a lot of corners, it will be difficult to overtake so qualifying will be even more important. I&rsquo;m looking forward to racing in Japan. It&rsquo;s a very unique country with a great culture so it&rsquo;ll be a real experience to visit and to race there.&rdquo;
Giving his thoughts ahead of the trip to Tokyo, Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal, Frederic Bertrand, commented: &ldquo;We have a good rhythm as a team now, so it&rsquo;s a benefit to us that we are back on track only two weeks after another improved performance in Brazil.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fantastic to also be racing in Tokyo. Racing in cities and on street circuits is the very DNA of Formula E, and it&rsquo;s exciting that even after ten years, the championship continues to push the boundaries and explore new territories and new audiences; this is key.
&ldquo;For our team, hopefully it will be another productive weekend, and we can leave Tokyo with our first points of the season on the board.&rdquo;

Momentum building for Mahindra Racing ahead of first Tokyo E-Prix

Mahindra Racing turned up the heat but was cruelly denied a chance at its first points of the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in a scorching Sao Paulo E-Prix this weekend [16 March].
After a seven-week hiatus, the FIA&rsquo;s all-electric series returned to action in South America, and to the 1.82-mile Anhembi Sambadrome street circuit.
Ahead of the weekend, the team identified qualifying performance as a key metric in its mission to return to the front of the grid, and both drivers, Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries, duly delivered with a season-best showing.
For Mortara, a lightning final run placed the six-time E-Prix winner third in Group B, advancing him to the Duels for the first time this campaign. De Vries was unlucky not to join him, with traffic a contributing factor in his missing out by less than a tenth of a second.
The duo would, therefore, line up P6 and P13 respectively for a race earmarked by experts as a return to the &lsquo;peloton-style&rsquo; racing associated with the latest GEN3 era of Formula E racing. And their predictions were proven right from the get-go.
The opening laps were typically hard-fought, but Mortara and de Vries emerged unscathed in seventh and 13th. Taking their mandatory Attack Modes brought both cars together on track, out of sync at the foot of the top-ten.
There, an over-ambitious move by another driver forced both Mahindra cars into avoiding action at the first corner.
The fighting spirit and race craft that has come to define both drivers&rsquo; careers was put to work immediately, and after a series of battling moves despite damage to the cars, Mortara and de Vries took the chequered flag in 12th and 14th respectively.
Mahindra Racing&rsquo;s season resumes in a fortnight when Formula E travels to Japan for the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix [30 March].
Battle-scarred but resolute despite the disappointment, Edoardo Mortara reflected: &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say the entire race weekend was positive. We&rsquo;ve found more performance in the car, and even from free practice we were looking good, despite some issues.
&ldquo;Starting from sixth, the race was a little bit more difficult, we had quite some issues, some contact. We managed to finish but it wasn&rsquo;t a really good one for us, we suffered from contact from some &lsquo;optimistic&rsquo; moves from others, but we will do better in the next one.&rdquo;
After another spirited drive, Nyck de Vries added: &ldquo;I feel good. Overall, we should see the progress that we&rsquo;ve made this weekend, and I do believe we left points on the table. It was a chaotic race, with the batteries derating at the end.
&ldquo;We could have come away with some points. Due to external factors, it didn&rsquo;t really go our way, but nevertheless, still a positive weekend for the team.&rdquo;
Frederic Bertrand, CEO and Team Principal of Mahindra Racing commented: &ldquo;The dominant feeling is frustration, because we definitely deserved to score points this weekend.
&ldquo;That aside, I&rsquo;m happy we have been able to deliver a proper qualifying, which was the target for the weekend. It&rsquo;s good to get the feeling of participating in the Duels for the first time in a long time.
&ldquo;As far as the race is concerned, the pace was there despite very difficult conditions, but it wasn&rsquo;t a perfect execution from our side, which put us in a bad situation, fighting closely with other cars and being very exposed to any mistakes or incidents. Unfortunately, this is what happened and that&rsquo;s where we lost any chance of scoring points.
&ldquo;Now we&rsquo;ll head to Tokyo, with the objective of scoring points there.&rdquo;