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Mahindra’s Frederic Bertrand admits one point ‘doesn’t feel satisfactory’
Mahindra Racing endured yet another frustrating weekend at the Berlin E-Prix, with the Indian manufacturer having struggled for outright pace across both races at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit.
Since Mexico City, Mahindra having really found the going tough, with the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship having been no exception. Oliver Rowland and Lucas di Grassi both found qualifying in particular very difficult, whilst Rowland was able to make up eleven places in Saturday’s race to finish tenth.
There was nothing for the team to celebrate in Sunday’s race, with Rowland’s point from Saturday having been their only one from the double-header. There was at least some joy for the manufacturer, with their customer team ABT CUPRA Formula E Team having locked-out the front row for Sunday’s race, whilst they also scored points in the race.
Following their challenging weekend, Mahindra have slipped from seventh to eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, leaving Team Principal Frederic Bertrand “frustrated”.
“Firstly, I’d like to congratulate our customer team Abt CUPRA Racing on their pole position and front row lock out for the second race today. Both their drivers did a fantastic job managing to extract what they needed out of their cars to be on the front row for their home race, which must have been a special feeling for them. For us, we were less fortunate.
“We had a bad qualifying session on Saturday, which put us immediately on the back foot, but this was mostly compensated by a good race strategy and a good recovery drive into the points. On Sunday we did a better qualifying session, but we feel frustrated because we would have liked to extract more, like Abt who showed the potential of the car in difficult conditions was definitely there.
“The race confirmed that we still struggle with the efficiency of the car as we are still struggling to make our way up into the points, so we still need to work hard on improving this deficit. A points finish was our aim coming to Berlin. The minimum has been done with scoring one point, but it clearly doesn’t feel satisfactory or reflect where we want to be. We need to keep working and improving.
“Monaco will be our next challenge and we will work hard to perform at our best at this iconic venue.”
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