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The Anglo-Indian team signed Season 7 World Champion Nyck de Vries and Edo Mortara for Season 10 on multi-year deals and the pair are set to continue into Season 11 with the outfit after working their way into being a points-scoring duo come the back end of a challenging 2023/24 campaign.
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With the drivers tied down, and following a stronger second half of Season 10, the team enters the GEN3 Evo era on an upward trajectory.
New for Season 11
The M11Electro, nveiled at an exclusive event at the outfit’s headquarters in Banbury, sees a new livery centred around a metallic red, silver satin and carbon black scheme and marks a strong step forward in technology for the team - with a brand-new powertrain, developed by Mahindra Racing, along with revised aerodynamic, suspension and rear-end packages.
As well as the new GEN3 Evo - the fastest accelerating FIA single seater at some 30% quicker to 60mph than a contemporary F1 car - the strategic impact of the introduction of all-wheel drive to the Duels, at race starts and during the twice-mandatory ATTACK MODE activations add new elements for Season 11 that teams need to get their heads around, fast.
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The car’s improved performance is equally-matched by Hankook’s new, grippier tyres, estimated to give the car between 5-10% more performance out on-track. Understanding these changes and implementing solutions has been essential for Mahindra, with the team continuing to re-build back towards the form that saw it win five E-Prix, take 24 podiums and 10 Julius Baer Pole Positions in a decade of competition in the FIA’s all-electric racing series.
The team are eyeing the regular, points-scoring form the team achieved during the latter half of Season 10 as a platform for continued growth for the future and they say testing with the M11Electro has been very positive to-date, with an average of 500 kilometres per test day, which ranks among the best mileage ever achieved by the team in pre-season as they set out to first prove the car’s reliability, and then more recently home in on greater performance.
Mahindra Racing CEO Frederic Bertrand said: “It’s always an exciting point in the pre-season when we gather everybody together to launch not just our new car, the Mahindra M11Electro, but also to celebrate an exciting new chapter in Formula E.
"It’s fitting that we chose to invite our guests to our factory for the first time ever, as this has been where everything has slowly fallen into place over the off-season, both in terms of developing the powertrain, but also working hard to optimise everything and make sure we are prepared for the format changes. Having made changes to our team structure last year, things are slowly falling into place.
“A lot will have changed on track, too, and we have to see where we are relative to the competition, but we’ve had a positive off-season, testing has progressed as planned, so now we’re looking forward to heading to Valencia with the other teams next month to get a better read on what our GEN3 Evo car will be capable of."
“To use the old cliché, if it’s as quick as it looks, then we should be in for a good year, following the progression we made at the end of last season!” adds Nyck de Vries ahead of his second campaign with the squad.
“It’s always interesting when Formula E introduces a new car. It’s important that we continue to evolve with the technology, and this new GEN3 Evo in particular will add some different elements to the racing.
“The car looks fantastic, and testing has gone well. I’m confident that we can continue to make steps forward as a team and pick up the momentum from where we left off at the end of Season 10.”
Teammate Edoardo Mortara said: “Testing has definitely been promising so far, but as always, there is plenty to do to ensure we keep developing and keep improving.
“A new car is a fresh opportunity for all the teams, and seeing it here in person, with the new livery, everything feels a lot more real. I can’t wait to get to Valencia and to get a clearer understanding of where we are, and where we can go from here.”
