Team Mahindra Racing Formula E Team
Drivers Bruno Senna & Nick Heidfeld
Team Principal Dilbagh Gill
2014/15 Championship 8th
Mahindra Racing has been in motorsport since 2011 but hasn’t taken a conventional path to car racing in Formula E. They started with motorcycles, starting with the 125cc class, which was later rebranded Moto3, and have been a dominant force in the series winning the championship in 2012.
The racing brand is a just part of a larger group of companies, though, being the largest vehicle manufacturer in India, and is the largest manufacturer of tractors anywhere in the world. They also have an interest in energy, given the increase for electric power across India, especially that of renewable energy.
With interests in building cars, motorsport and renewable energy, Formula E was an ideal launchpad for Mahindra to further increase their brand recognition outside India. Putting together a good team for the first season, acquiring the services of former Hispania F1 teammates Bruno Senna and Indian Karun Chandhok, and long-time team owner Trevor Carlin on paper it looked like they were due success.
Despite having two ex-Formula 1 drivers at the helm, and what looked like a promising start to the championship, results went away from them in the second half of the season. There was a ray of hope at the London ePrix where Bruno Senna got their best finish of the season in fourth, but it was still only good enough for a disappointing eighth in the championship.
Karun Chandhok has left for the second season to concentrate on sportscars, but he has been replaced by Nick Heidfeld from Venturi. Early indications from pre-season testing suggest Mahindra should be much more competitive in season two.
Driver Name Bruno Senna
Nationality Brazilian
Date of Birth 15/10/1983
Formula E Races 11
Formula E Wins 0
2014/15 Championship 10th – 40 points
Bruno Senna is the nephew of the three-time Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna, someone who had a great influence on his life and racing career, and even races with a revised version of Ayrton’s famous helmet design in the colours of the Brazilian flag.
Bruno has had a varied career but used the tried and tested route to Formula 1 through Formula BMW, Formula 3 and then GP2. He only finished third in his second season of British Formula 3, before graduating to GP2 in 2007 with Arden. A steady first season with a win meant he finished eighth in the championship before moving to iSport in 2008. Although only picking up one more win he finished the season 2nd while having also signed as Honda test driver.
Over the winter of 2008 Honda disappeared, and was considered for a drive at the reborn Brawn GP team. Fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was favoured, though, leaving him to race at Le Mans.
A year later and he was given his chance in Formula 1, to partner Karun Chandhok at the newly formed Hispania Racing. It was a chaotic start, with them nearly not making the running at the first race in Bahrain, and joined the ‘new teams’ Team Lotus and Virgin Racing at the back of the field.
He lost that drive at the end of the season and was parachuted into Lotus Renault midseason in 2011, before moving to Williams in 2012. It was a difficult campaign at Williams, having to share the majority of Friday mornings with rookie Valtteri Bottas which put him on the back foot for the rest of the weekend.
It would be his last drive in Formula 1, making the move to the World Endurance Championship with Aston Martin, once again going back to Le Mans in the GT category having mild success.
2014 brought a move to Formula E, alongside his former teammate Karun Chandhok who had also made a name for himself in sportscars. Although he had four points-paying positions, including a season-best 4th in London, Senna only finished 10th in the first season.
Driver Name Nick Heidfeld
Nationality German
Date of Birth 10/05/1977
Formula E Races 11
Formula E Wins 0
2014/15 Championship 12th – 31 points
Often called ‘Quick Nick’ through he career, Nick Heidfeld has been in the top flights of motorsport for nearly twenty years.
As seen with many of the same generation, he found his way to the top of motorsport through the junior categories. First with Formula Ford and then Formula 3 in Germany where he first showed his speed, winning the championship at both levels.
Winning the Formula 3 championship in Germany, he moved onto Formula 3000, the predecessor to GP2 where he drove for the West Competition Team. They had an affiliation with McLaren where he stayed for two seasons in 1998 and 1999, along with being a McLaren test driver, winning the Championship in the second year.
After driving for Prost, he made the step up to a full-time Formula 1 seat with the team in 2000. It wasn’t hugely successful but was enough to secure a seat at Sauber for the next season. There he stayed for three years, sat firmly in the midfield.
With a short stint at the uncompetitive Jordan team in 2004, he moved to Williams who at that point still had the works BMW engine. It was there he would get his only pole position in Formula 1. With BMW splitting with Williams at the end of the season, he moved with them back to Sauber, who BMW had a controlling stake.
The period from 2006 – 2008 would ultimately be his most successful, but unlike his highly rated teammate Robert Kubica, he was unable to convert the promising performances into victories.
BMW pulled out completely at the end of 2009 nearly ending his career, but was called back by Sauber to compete in a handful of races during that season, along with being a Mercedes GP test driver. A move to Lotus-Renault the following season in 2011 was the last we would see of ‘Quick Nick’ in Formula 1.
A move to the World Endurance Championship in 2011 with the independent Rebellion Racing has given varied results against the larger manufacturer teams, driving alongside fellow Formula E driver Nico Prost they have a season’s best of 8th in 2013.
Heidfeld drove for the Venturi Team for the first season in Formula E, once again with some mixed results en route to 12th in the championship. Consistently in or near the points he had a run of form from Monaco to Moscow, the best finish of the season for him in 3rd.
