Mahindra’s Frederic Bertrand Highlights Importance of ‘Starting Further up the Grid’

It was another weekend to forget for Mahindra Racing at the iconic Monaco E-Prix, as the Indian manufacturer endured another point-less weekend.

Mahindra are certainly enduring a troubling spell of form, with the side having scored just one-point from the last five races. There was some hope of a points finish at the Circuit de Monaco, though, as Oliver Rowland made up seven places in the opening two laps. The Briton flew into sixth early on; however, multiple collisions saw him decide to retire from the race after suffering from pain in his hand. Thankfully, an X-Ray showed that he hadn’t broken any bones.

For Lucas Di Grassi, his miserable run of form continued, with the Brazilian having failed to score a point for the eighth race in a row after finishing twelfth. His sole points finish this season remains as his Mexico City podium, all the way back in January. To add to the team’s disappointment, they slipped to tenth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Rowland and Di Grassi both proved that the team do have a car that can perform in the race; however, they’re currently unable to qualify well enough to take advantage of it. With that in mind, Team Principal Frederic Bertrand has stressed the importance of qualifying “further up the grid”, so that they can be amongst the points much easier.

“Oliver had such a fantastic start, passing multiple cars in the opening laps, so it is frustrating that he ended up having to retire the car, but of course it is much more important that he gets his hand looked at immediately. Lucas also had a good race, he made up places to finish 13th, but the late safety car ruined any chance of us making up any more positions to score those points we are aiming for.

“The qualifying session was again disappointing, but it just goes to show that starting further up the grid, like Oliver did, makes it easier for us to attempt our points finishing target. We move onto Jakarta next.”