Breaking news
Formula E
Mahindra would be "disappointed" to finish outside top three
Mahindra would be “disappointed” if it doesn’t finish inside the top three in the 2020/21 Formula E standings, says team principal Dilbagh Gill.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Nov 26, 2020, 2:06 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
After three consecutive race-winning campaigns, Mahindra failed to finish on the podium during the 2019/20 season and dropped to ninth in the teams' championship - its worst-ever finish in the series’ history.
But the Indian marque is planning to regain lost ground in the forthcoming season and, having successfully moved into new premises in Banbury, is banking on a new powertrain developed by German partner ZF.
On the drivers' front, Mahindra has retained Berlin stand-in Alex Lynn, while Alexander Sims replaces new Venturi deputy team principal Jerome d’Ambrosio after spending the last two seasons with BMW Andretti.
Gill said the hard work the team has put in to arrest the decline in its Formula E form means it is expecting nothing short of a top three finish in the championship - a result it achieved once in 2016/17 with Felix Rosenqvist and Nick Heidfeld behind the wheel.
“In terms of targets, we’d like to get back to where we used to be - third, fourth, fifth,” Gill said. “Like the top three, four sort of team, going out for some wins, consistently getting on the podium. That’s the sort of target we’d like to get back to.
“I believe we have the capacity and capability and the competence to get back to that level. So for me at the end of this year if we are not a top three team in the championship, it would be a disappointing year because of the amount of work that has gone in.”
Gill said the new powertrain is already a “significant improvement” over its predecessor after testing it on the dyno, and credited ZF for eking out big gains from “Formula E’s least efficient part”, the gearbox.
“In terms of powertrain, ZF has been in Formula E. they were a supplier to Venturi for the last couple of years, they’ve won a race with Venturi and a couple of pole positions,” Gill said.
“In the end when we look at the powertrain, put it on a bench and look at it compared to what we’ve seen in the last years, it’s a significant improvement. And again, from ZF’s perspective they’ve really gone all out and put some great work on the gearbox.
“As we all know in Formula E that’s the least efficient part because that’s the mechanical product of the car, rest is largely electronic or electrical, which has much higher efficiency.
"Overall, this is our seventh year. The sixth year of making a car [as all teams ran the same spec car in the first season]. So, we’ve also learnt over the last six years how to make a car and we have made race-winning cars over the years."
Read Also:
Mahindra has elected to deploy its new powertrain at the first available opportunity at the start of the 2020/21 season, having completed a “pretty intense evaluation” of potential benefits of delaying its introduction until April or June - the other two options available to Formula E teams as per the series’ new cost-cutting measures.
But the team eventually concluded that the second or the third slot “wasn’t an option”, having finished so far behind in 2019/2020 with its existing powertrain.
“For us it was very important,” Gill explained. “Without trying to cover stuff we didn’t have a very good powertrain last year. We weren’t very competitive. Otherwise, it would have been a very poor start for us [in season 7].
“People have worked flat out over many, many months. Colleagues in Germany and colleagues at Shell etc. Honestly the second and third slot wasn’t an option for us.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Audi reveals 2021 Formula E car with first in-house powertrain
Next article Jaguar unveils new Formula E car for 2020/21 season
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Rachit Thukral
Dakar Rally moves 2027 event out of Saudi Arabia; new location to be announced
Dakar
Dakar 10 h
Dakar Rally moves 2027 event out of Saudi Arabia; new location to be announced
Winner and losers from MotoGP’s cancelled Australian GP weekend
MotoGP
MotoGP
Australian GP
10 h
Winner and losers from MotoGP’s cancelled Australian GP weekend
More from
Mahindra Racing
How Mahindra missed out on London win but capped its best Formula E season yet
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
How Mahindra missed out on London win but capped its best Formula E season yet
Mahindra is a Formula E frontrunner again, but will it end its five-year victory drought?
Formula E
Formula E
Jeddah ePrix II
Mahindra is a Formula E frontrunner again, but will it end its five-year victory drought?
Mahindra to begin Gen4 testing in May after delayed board approval
Formula E
Formula E
Jeddah ePrix II
Mahindra to begin Gen4 testing in May after delayed board approval
Latest news
Denny Hamlin blasts Next Gen: “A sports car not meant to be running 200mph”
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
11 min
Denny Hamlin blasts Next Gen: “A sports car not meant to be running 200mph”
Ryan Preece on RFK nearly lapping the field: "You'll never see that again"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
42 min
Ryan Preece on RFK nearly lapping the field: "You'll never see that again"
George Russell confused by lack of pace at F1 US GP despite upgraded W17
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
52 min
George Russell confused by lack of pace at F1 US GP despite upgraded W17
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe