To say Mahindra Racing was in troubled waters when Formula E’s Gen3 era began in 2022-23 would be an understatement. On track, the M9 Electro was slow and underdeveloped, and struggled in the area that matters most in Formula E - efficiency. Off the track, the situation was no better. Team principal Dilbagh Gill abruptly departed before the start of the campaign, leaving the squad without a leader during a crucial off-season transition.
Enter Frederic Bertrand, an ex-FIA executive who had the inside knowledge of the championship thanks to his role as director of Formula E and executive projects at the governing body. Under Bertrand, Mahindra underwent a 360-degree review, which identified key areas that had contributed to the downfall of the multiple race-winning team over time. The findings led to a full-scale restructuring of Mahindra’s Formula E operations, with a wave of new hires, including talent from rival teams, brought in to bolster its engineering department.
The whole process involved some short-term pain as it was impossible to deliver big gains overnight. Only a systematic overhaul could have revived the team’s fortunes. This meant that the team went through some incredibly difficult times at the bottom of the grid, finishing 10th in the championship in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons - and losing star drivers like Oliver Rowland and Lucas di Grassi along the way.
However, despite Mahindra’s struggles, there were signs of renewed belief in the team’s long-term vision, with 2020-21 champion Nyck de Vries and six-time race winner Edoardo Mortara signing to drive for the team and placing their trust in Bertrand’s ambitious revival plan.
“When I joined the team in season nine, we were at a moment where the performance was not there,” Bertrand told the media, including Motorsport.com. “The car has not been developed properly - or let’s say not with the right reference.
“We were with a car which was good, but not outstanding. The question was how can we rebuild, how can we restart and relaunch the process to make sure that in a very short period of time - 24 months - we can come back and race at a level where we are proud and we can fight with anyone, without any compromises, and we can win.
“It has gone through a process which was more or less understanding the company. What were the weaknesses? What were the strengths? Making sure that we clean all the things which were not exactly what we needed. Then restructure, find the right people, engineers, mechanics and drivers to join the team, but also the right partners and right suppliers for creating better cars.
“We changed the level of reference that the people had in mind, and [made them] push the boundaries and get away from the comfort zone that they got slowly into.”
The big opportunity for Mahindra came in the form of the 2024-25 season, when Formula E introduced a mid-life refresh to its Gen3 prototype.
This gave the new crew at Mahindra the chance to build an all-new package that wasn’t held back by the fundamental issues that plagued its predecessor.
“You can try to improve the car you already have in place and just make some small steps because you have something, you have the hardware in place, you have an understanding of the car in place. It's comfortable, but it's not enough in terms of performance potential,” he explained.
“The goal was to start from a white page again, design a new car, design a new powertrain, design the new rear end of the car, design new suspension, design the new gearbox, design everything new so that we can create the car we wanted. And that's the one we raced with last year. That's the car for season 11.
“That's the car that Nick and Edo have accepted to develop all along season 10 because in parallel to driving with a car which was not at the right level in season 10, they were developing the car which will bring us back into the game for season 11.
“That was the bet we all took together. Let's build something from scratch, but something which corresponds to our target, which is winning races, winning the championship.”
After the lows of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, Mahindra bounced back strongly with its new Gen3 evo contender in 2024-25, the M11 Electro. De Vries and Mortara scored five podiums between themselves - including four in the last five - to help Mahindra climb up to fourth in the teams’ standings. It racked up 186 points over the course of the year, more than twice what it did in the last two seasons combined.
This has also put Mahindra in a solid position for the 2025-26 season, which begins this December in Sao Paulo and continues until August next year.
The target is clear: returning to the top step of the podium for the first time since the 2021 London E-Prix. With strong rivals like Porsche, Jaguar and DS Penske, that wouldn’t be an easy task, but given the team’s recent progress, it’s a goal that feels increasingly within reach.
Ultimately, turning that ambition into reality begins with belief in those very goals.
“What can be improved still is the level of confidence, the reference and the quality of execution,” explained Bertrand. “I think we started with the idea that being P8 was already a good result when we were P11.
“Now we are no longer in that type of referential. The referential is getting on the podium and getting to the top.
“So that is one thing which is definitely a step. But we still need to push that step further to make sure that everybody is convinced that we can do it and that we will do it.
“The second is more sponsors. It’s always good to get more money to have more capacity to invest and develop more.
“And now there is a lot going on with AI. There is a lot going on with additional testing on the virtual side, so that we can make our simulation better correlated.
“And the last part is definitely on my side. Make sure that I keep the group with a strong bonding feeling and level.”
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