Mahindra Racing have said that a Battery Management System error was to blame for Felix Rosenqvist’s eventual retirement from the Mexico City ePrix.
Rosenqvist had led the race from pole and held a comfortable lead over Oliver Turvey when his car stopped coming out of the last corner.
He managed to get the car started again, but the issue persisted meaning that by the time he stopped for his second car he was two laps down on the rest of the field.
Team Principal Dilbagh Gill was visibly angry at the time, and expressed his frustration afterwards that it was a common part that caused the problem, not one designed by the team.
He said, “A very disappointing day for us, pole position, a comfortable race lead. Unfortunately, a common part, the battery, failed on Felix’s car but at the end of the day we’re still positive that we had the car to win.”
The retirement meant that Rosenqvist lost the chance to regain the championship lead, but with Jean-Eric Vergne only able to finish in fifth it meant that the Mahindra driver is still only twelve points behind him in the standings.
Speaking afterwards the Swede said he was keen to move on from the race, commenting “One of those rare days when I can say it was quite a perfect Saturday.
“Right from the practice sessions through to qualifying. I was out in front with a comfortable three second lead and it was getting better.
“It was all a bit too good to be true, but the issue was not in our hands. We need to move forward from here and get back to the top.”
With Nick Heidfeld also retiring with a mechanical issue it meant that Mahindra dropped further behind Techeetah in the team’s championship as well, with the Chinese team now holding a nine point lead.
