Mahindra Racing made a strong start to their 2015-16 Formula E championship campaign after Nick Heidfeld drove his M2Electro and himself onto the podium alongside Sebastian Buemi and Lucas di Grassi.
Heidfeld had put in a strong performance to qualify in third position on Saturday ahead of the ePrix that took place later that day around the streets of Beijing. The German driver also qualified ahead of his Mahindra teammate, Bruno Senna, who qualified in seventh position respectively.
The start was clean for the former Formula 1 driver as he was able to gain a position before even reaching the first corner. The first stint of his race remained clean and competitive before a small issue during the pitstop meant that he lost a position.
Heidfeld re-joined the field in fourth before being promoted into third when Nico Prost sustained damage to his Renault e.DAMS rear wing in the closing stages of the race, forcing the Frenchman to retire.
Racing to the line wasn’t a simple run as those behind the German, including Loïc Duval, began to put pressure on him from behind in order to fight for the final podium position. Heidfeld held off however and crossed the line to bring Mahindra Racing team their best result to date.
“I had to work hard to defend on the final laps as other cars were putting pressure on me from behind but I’m glad that our race strategy left me with enough energy to keep them behind me right to the chequered flag,” commented Nick Heidfeld.
“We will build on this achievement, refine the car and I believe the M2Electro can continue to race at the front of the grid.”
Also talking about the result on Saturday was Mahindra Racing Team Principal Dilbagh Gill, who said: “…The performance of both cars in qualifying and Nick’s final result shows that the approach we took to developing the M2Electro powertrain was the right one.
The car has been reliable and consistent since testing and we now know we also have a package that can compete in both qualifying and race trim. We must congratulate ourselves but we must build on this success in the next race. We could potentially have finished even higher.”
