Mahindra Racing displayed its challenger for the upcoming 2018-19 Formula E season in race-ready avatar before the season officially kicks off in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia this weekend.
Showcased in full race livery, the M5 Electro now sports the Shell logo – the international lubricant manufacturer now coming on board as the team’s latest sponsor. Additionally, it was also announced that Mahindra Racing and Shell will work together on the development of lubricants and fluids for electric vehicles.
Earlier this year, Mahindra Racing had already revealed an all-new driver line-up of Jerome d’Ambrosio and Pascal Wehrlein for season five of the electric racing series, with Nick Heidfeld set to remain with the team in an advisory role and as a test and reserve driver. However, with Wehrlein’s contractual obligations to Mercedes running until the end of 2018, Felix Rosenqvist will race for Mahindra in the Ad Diriyah season-opener in his place.
Speaking about the team’s goals for the upcoming new Formula E season, Dilbagh Gill, CEO and Team Principal of Mahindra Racing said, “We have set a razor-sharp focus to build on our base from the last few seasons and continue to be one of the top teams in season five of Formula E. The ultimate objective is to claim the championship title. Our team, coupled with our strong pool of partners, will enable us to achieve this aspiration.”
“Formula E represents the cutting edge of EV technology and plays a strategic role in realizing Mahindra’s vision of the Future of Mobility through our ‘Race to Road strategy. Racing is at the pinnacle of global EV motorsport, it puts Mahindra on the fast track toward the development of an entirely new generation of EVs that offer clean, exciting yet affordable mobility to our customers,” added Dr Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, and Chairman, Mahindra Racing. “We are geared up to begin racing in Season five of Formula E in the next few days and will push hard toward victory. We look forward to growing interest and support from our Indian fans for a championship that is helping to develop sustainable mobility solutions for the future.”
The upcoming Formula E season will feature a number of big changes; the most significant change being the new Gen2 car that sports a new design and is now capable of storing double the amount of energy – making mid-race car swaps a thing of the past. The M5Electro is claimed to be able to reach 100kph in 2.8sec and go on to a top speed of 280kph.
In a bid to spice-up strategy, drivers will now be able to use the ‘Attack Mode’, which will allow them to pick up an extra 25Kw of power by driving their cars off the racing line and through the Activation Zone. With the grid now consisting of 11 teams, season five will see six drivers battle it out for pole position in the Super Pole shoot-out.
Additionally, races will no longer be measured by a pre-defined number of laps; each race will instead last for 45min, plus one extra lap to reach the chequered flag.