Mahindra’s Frederic Bertrand: “Grabbing points for sure makes the team happy”

Mahindra Racing Team Principal Frederic Bertrand was “really happy for everyone” at the Banbury-based team last weekend, as the Indian manufacturer scored points at the inaugural Portland E-Prix.

Lucas Di Grassi ended his ten race point-less streak after finishing seventh at the Portland International Raceway, whilst his top-ten finish marked the team’s first points in general since the first race in Berlin. Unfortunately, rookie Roberto Merhi retired from the race early on, after simply grinding to a halt. The Spaniard looked good ahead of his retirement, with both drivers having been very happy with car’s performance.

Mahindra aren’t currently sure what caused Merhi’s car to stop, with Bertrand having revealed that the team are “still investigating what happened”. Di Grassi’s seventh place finish also moved the outfit up to ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, giving them something else to celebrate.

It was certainly a well-deserved points finish for Mahindra, who have worked tirelessly all season. Bertrand is hopeful that the team can now carry their performance over into Rome, as the season edges ever close to its climax.

“The race was very fun – it was full of strategy and suspense for us but we succeeded in getting into the points, which we are really happy with,” Bertrand said. “Lucas did a good job and managed to get P7 during the race. Unfortunately, on the other side for Roberto it was more difficult. Sadly, he didn’t make the end of the race and we are still investigating what happened.

“Overall, it was a very good weekend for us as we added to our championship points tally. We are also able to understand a bit more the performance of the car and we are still building up and preparing for next season. Grabbing points for sure makes the team happy. A great job has been done all weekend by the team and I’m really happy for everyone. We are hoping to move this performance onto Rome next.”