Mahindra Racing will have the same line-up of Pascal Wehrlein and Jerome D’Ambrosio as the team reveals its 2019/20 FIA Formula E Championship car.
Having signed up with a new pairing of Wehrlein and D’Ambrosio in 2018/19, Mahindra will keep the same duo for the 2019/20 Formula E season as it reveals ZF Group as its base partner along with unveiling the M6Electro in a launch event.
Wehrlein, who is once again in the F1 news due to the announcement from his management company, will continue with Mahindra alongside his Ferrari simulator role. There were talks of a new line-up but the Indian outfit goes with stability.
Mahindra already announced David Clarke as Team Manager and Paul Willett as new Chief Mechanic last month to strengthen its core team with Dilbagh Gill in the leading position. It will be eyeing to finally seal the deal after years of showing glimpses of performances.
The biggest change for Mahindra will be its partnership with ZF Group, whose influence can be seen on its livery with the inclusion of blue. The German engineering company will be providing the Indian outfit with the powertrain.
In addition, it will also help with chassis development work, shock absorber provision and provide other engineering services. “Formula E is a great stage for ZF to demonstrate the quality and performance of our drive train solutions for the e-mobility of tomorrow,” said Wolf-Henning Scheider, CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
“In no other racing series is the transfer of expertise from motorsports to volume production development as great as in Formula E. We look forward to a successful cooperation with Mahindra Racing, and also show our commitment to India as an important growth market.”
While the drivers at the front remains the same, Mahindra will also keep the same behind the scenes with Nick Heidfeld and Sam Dejonghe continuing in their respective consultant, development and simulator role for another season.
“Last year was my rookie season and there were a lot of positives to take from that and build on for my second Formula E season,” said Wehrlein. “There is a very positive and upbeat mood in the team as we’ve been working hard over the summer break and I’m really looking forward to working with the team again.”
Meanwhile, D’Ambrosio added: I really want to thank Mahindra Racing for last year and I am super happy to continue with the team. “We know the second half of the season was challenging, but the fact that we are all sticking together for season six means we can come back stronger and consistently fight at the front for wins.”
And finally, team principal Gill said: “I am thrilled Jerome and Pascal will both return to the team for season six. Last season was one of the most challenging seasons in Formula E history in terms of competition but we believe we have one of the strongest driver line-ups on the grid to help us achieve our championship ambitions.
“I am also delighted to welcome ZF to the Mahindra Racing family. We now have one of the most successful global players in the field of e-mobility at our side. We were highly impressed by the performance of the ZF driveline in the most recent Formula E season and together we will be even better positioned to continue celebrating success.”
2019/20 Formula E line-up so far:
Audi: Lucas di Grassi & Daniel Abt
DS Techeetah: Jean-Eric Vergne & Antonio Felix da Costa
Porsche: Neel Jani & Andre Lotterer
GEOX Dragon: Brendon Hartley & Nico Muller
Nissan e.Dams: Sebastien Buemi & Oliver Rowland
BMW Andretti: Maximilian Gunther
Mercedes: Stoffel Vandoorne & Nyck de Vries
Jaguar Racing: Mitch Evans & James Calado
Venturi Racing: Felipe Massa & Edoardo Mortara
Mahindra Racing: Pascal Wehrlein & Jerome D’Ambrosio
Check out the details of the last reveal of Venturi