The ‘necessary bet’ to save a Formula E icon
Mahindra team principal Frederic Bertrand revealed that it was a “necessary bet” for the team to build an entirely new car for Formula E Season 11.
The decision which saw the Indian manufacturer develop a brand-new powertrain for its Gen3 EVO – named the M11Electro – came after a challenging two campaigns.
Gen3 was not kind to Mahindra, with its best result having been Lucas di Grassi’s podium in the first race of the era, back in Mexico City in January, 2023.
That also marked Bertrand’s first race in charge of the Banbury-based outfit, who started a journey back to the top last season.
With current drivers Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara on multi-year deals, Bertrand and the entire team has been looking to the future. The spoken of future, is now, with an eye having been on Gen3 EVO throughout Season 10.
It is this season where Bertrand wants to see genuine progress, which had started to be made in the second half of S10.
Despite signs of progress in the 2023/24 campaign, like Mortara’s pole in Berlin, starting from scratch felt required for S11 due to the size of the gap which needed bridging.
“It was a necessary bet to change everything, because we could have tried to just work on improving what we had,” Bertrand told RacingNews365.
“But the gap was probably too big, and the hardware DNA was probably too far from what we needed.
“And then we thought that it was definitely better to bring new people inside so that they can raise the level of reference we had. Because it’s easy to start to think you’re okay at the level which is okay, but if you are thinking from a level which is higher, you are far from okay.
“And definitely we were far from having the right reference. Now we have a much better understanding of the type of reference we can have. Because some people came with a higher level of understanding of those types of reference we can have.”
Making ‘Mahindra proud’
The initial signs in testing and in the São Paulo season-opener are that Mahindra has a competitive package. Although one race is difficult to judge the true pecking order.
Fifth and sixth for Mortara and de Vries, respectively, marked the team’s joint best-ever first round points haul.
That alone is a demonstration that Mahindra’s rebuild is working, with Bertrand’s plan being to get the team which has been in the series since day dot back to the top.
In São Paulo, several teams spoke highly of the Indian outfit, recognising the package it has as one which could deliver strong results this campaign.
What has worked in Mahindra’s favour, according to the team boss, is that the development of its new car was not perfect. The outcome of this, is that the squad pulled together even more.
“What has definitely been good during this period is that not everything has gone as planned, as a normal development, by the way, but nobody accepted that we decrease the targets,” explained Bertrand.
“Myself the first, I put on them quite a bit of pressure to make sure that we don’t start to be just okay. No, no, no, no, we cannot be just okay. Maybe we fail, but at least we try to be at the top.
“Otherwise, it makes no sense to put all that effort in, money, bringing all those people in. And at the end [of the day], we need to make Mahindra proud, because that’s part of the game also.
“It’s a brand which is huge, which is growing, and we need to make sure that the product we are putting on track is bringing some pride into the full group.”
