Pune: Mahindra Racing topped off an outstanding weekend of FIA Formula E Championship racing with another podium on Sunday at the Berlin ePrix a day after its first ever win.
Swedish ace Felix Rosenqvist led from start to finish in the second German race at the Tempelhof Airport circuit, however a ten second penalty for an unsafe release into pit lane relegated the #19 racer to second place behind competitor Sébastien Buemi.
The result came just 24 hours after he scored Mahindra Racing’s maiden Formula E victory and capped off a dominant weekend for the Indian team.
“It was a very long and tough weekend! We kept our heads together and had a near-perfect run. We had a really, really solid car. I felt really good on the track and it would have been two wins in a row if not for the penalty. It was unfortunate to have the race end like that,” said Felix Rosenqvist.
“It’s not what you want as a racer, you want the on-track result to be representative of the final result. Performance-wise, we are on fire. I believe I can extend the gap from Nico (Prost) for third in the championship and as a team we are closing in on second. We are the ones to watch at the moment - it’s a bit of a game changer!”
A superb Super Pole performance saw the Swede take the second Pole Position of his short Formula E career, while a sensor malfunction in qualifying had his teammate Heidfeld start from the exact opposite end of the gird.
But Heidfeld’s progress through the field was unrivalled. Within five laps he had moved up eight positions to P12. Energy conservation and regeneration then came into play, as the race became the longest Formula E race on record and two laps longer than yesterday’s competition. Finishing in tenth provided some consolation with one championship point.
After a long two days of trophy collecting, Rosenqvist lies third in the Drivers’ Championship with Heidfeld a little further back in fifth. Mahindra Racing has further consolidated its third position in the teams’ standings and lies 22 points shy of second-placed ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport.
“Our strategy was to push hard in the beginning of the race, I made up many positions and we were still decent on energy use in the first stint. As I knew Felix was in a good position, I honestly tried to make way for him as easily as possible during the pit lane incident and lost some time. I could overtake, but if not for the qualifying issue we could have had a better result. As a team, Mahindra Racing has one of the most reliable cars but it is still a tough pill to swallow,” Nick Heidfeld said.
