Former AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries has returned to Formula E after winning the championship in 2021 and becoming the first ever World Champion crowned in the series.
De Vries has decided to join Mahindra for a fresh start in 2024 after his new experience in Formula 1. The Indian team was among the founders of the electric championship in Season 1, and will be on the grid for Season 10 with a totally renovated driver lineup.
The Dutchman will partner with one of his main title contenders during Season 7, Edoardo Mortara. The Swiss driver, only seven points behind him in the drivers’ standings, has left Maserati after six years with the Monaco-based team.
The illustrous lineup will be backed by an overall renovation of the Mahindra team and facilities, with new engineers joining from Formula 1.
“I am delighted to welcome Edo and Nyck to the Mahindra Racing family. As a team, we are all embarking on a journey to bring Mahindra Racing back to the front of the grid in the coming years. With their speed and experience, Nyck and Edo will play a key role in driving the team towards that goal, and I know everybody is feeling very motivated to work with them.
“Equally important for the team are the drivers’ appetites for a long-term project, which makes them the perfect fit for Mahindra Racing at the beginning of this journey. We anticipate next year will be another year of development and progress, and in a championship like Formula E, success is impossible to achieve overnight.”
“But the signing of Nyck and Edo, along with new recruits within the wider team, puts down a solid foundation on which we can build,” he concluded.
The Indian team’s first approach to Gen3 was extremely challenging, with a single podium scored by Lucas di Grassi in the inaugural Mexican round but ending the season with a tenth place in the championship standings and a mid-season driver swap which saw Roberto Merhi replace Oliver Rowland in a late attempt to improve the form of the team.
De Vries knows he has a tough job ahead of him, but he is not afraid of the challenge, as he said:
“It’s really exciting to be joining such a major automotive manufacturer as Mahindra, and to represent them in Formula E. I’m particularly excited about the future plans for the team. The basis is already strong, and the team has all the attributes to succeed.
“I believe going forwards we will be able to extract even more potential from the project and the organisation, so to be a part of that process was very appealing for me. I think it’s no secret that the team has had a bit of a rough start to Gen3, although there were positive signs of improvement during the second half of last season.”
The former Formula 2 champion is confident in his new team, and pleased to return to an environment that has brought him a lot of success in the previous years:
“I believe the team can continue to build on those learnings, and with the additional changes and plans in place for the future, we can make even greater steps forward in performance at the start of our new journey together.
“Coming back to Formula E will feel like coming home. I’ve been part of the Formula E family for three seasons, I know everybody very well. I’m looking forward to being back in a familiar environment, and to be back somewhere where ultimately, I’ve always enjoyed my racing,” he concluded.
Photo credits: Mahindra Racing
Mortara, formerly at Venturi, is also hyped by the new environment and ready to bounce back after a tough final season alongside Maxi Gunther that never saw him on the podium.
“I’m extremely excited to be joining Mahindra Racing. It’s a team that I’ve been looking at for several years now, they have been in Formula E since the beginning of the Championship, so there’s a lot of experience there.
“What I could also feel from the people here is that we share the same values. We have a great project in front of us, but I can see a lot of determination and motivation from everyone in the team, and this is so important.
“Mahindra is also such a big automotive manufacturer, with a worldwide reputation. I’m extremely proud to join and be a representative of this prestigious group. I can’t wait to get started, and I’m sure that, if we put in the necessary amount of work, we will be able to be successful in this very competitive championship in the future,” he described his first sensations as a Mahindra driver.
Many were expecting Mahindra’s Reserve driver Jehan Daruvala to join the Indian team in 2024, but the Formula 2 driver will instead move to Maserati to partner up with Maxi Gunther, confirmed with a multi-year deal.
Maserati’s Team Principal James Rossiter commented on the signing, praisng the mixture of experience and youthfulness brought to the Italian team by the new signings:
“We’re excited about our driver lineup for Season 10, and we’re confident that the blend of Max’s experience with Jehan’s determination will prove to be a competitive combination. Max impressed us throughout the 2022/23 season, and continuing our relationship was a natural decision.”
“He has brilliant speed, a strong understanding of Formula E’s Gen3 package, and with five seasons of experience – despite being aged only 26 – has an impressive amount of knowledge. That experience will be invaluable for Jehan, who has already shown good promise in his two rookie test outings with Mahindra earlier this year.”
It was an up-and-down first season in Formula E for Maserati, as after a tough beginning of the season, Gunther managed to secure the Italian brand’s first win since Juan Manuel Fangio’s in Formula 1 in 1957, as well as three other podium finishes, one of them in Italy for the team’s home race.
“Over the past four years, he has shown hunger and determination in Formula 2, and has clearly demonstrated that he has what it takes to win races. Now, Jehan is ready to do the work it takes to succeed in Formula E. In Season 9, we faced many highs and lows, but we learned a great deal from every scenario we faced.”
“After making some positive performance gains over the Summer, we’re looking forward to getting Season 10 underway, and with our lineup, we’re confident that we can be in a position to fight at the front of the grid,” he concluded on an higher note.
