Mahindra Racing takes maiden win in Formula E as Felix Rosenqvist finished ahead of Lucas di Grassi and other Mahindra driver Nick Heidfeld
Mahindra Racing stood tall on the podium at Berlin as the India constructors’ first ever race win has been registered in Formula E. Felix Rosenqvist booked his place in Indian motorsport history as he did not put a foot wrong in the first of the two races scheduled this weekend and won by 2.2 seconds.
Just ahead of the midway point where the drivers swap cars, he overtook polesitter Lucas di Grassi and cruised on for the rest of the ePrix to take the chequered flag in style. The Brazilian’s second position would aid him in cutting the deficit to championship leader Sebastien Buemi, there is still more work to do as 32 points separate them up top.
However, the real highlight of the race has to be double podium finish for Mahindra Racing. With untiring presence at the premiere single-seater electric racing series, Mahindra’s perseverance has paid off as the Indian national anthem bounced off the podium ceilings in what turned to be an emotional evening for the team.
Sebastien Buemi ended up fifth after recovering from 14th on the grid to finish just outside the bottom step of the podium. When the lights went out, Mahindra’s Rosenqvist moved up to second capitalising on Jose Maria Lopez’s fluffy start from the front row.
Rosenqvist had the pace to close in on Lucas di Grassi despite the latter having built a sizeable gap before the car swap. He utilised the opportunity into Turn 1 and went round the outside to seize lead from the Abt Audi Sport driver and then never looked back.
In the closing stages of the ePrix, the other Mahindra of veteran Nick Heidfeld caught di Grassi who had issues due to battery temperature but as the chequered flag fell he had to settle with a highly impressive third place for the third race running ahead of Jose Maria Lopez.
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