Nick Heidfeld’s Saturday was certainly entertaining to say the least, going from fifth in qualifying to the back of the grid before the race, and back up to seventh overall.
Both Mahindra Racing cars had pace on Saturday, which led to a stellar outing in the first half of qualifying, although mistakes on Heidfeld’s super pole lap left him in fifth position.
With both Mahindra’s looking like strong podium contenders, the news that their tyre pressures were incorrect and that their times from qualifying would now be excluded was disappointing for the team, however with the pace they’d already shown there was still a reason to be optimistic about the race ahead.
Heidfeld showed how good the Mahindra was in Berlin, gaining nine places in the first stint, whilst he could’ve picked up more in the second car with FanBoost if the safety car didn’t come out near the end of the ePrix.
“This has been an intense race day for the whole team,” Nick Heidfeld said after the race. “We showed in qualifying this morning that the M2Electro was really suited to this circuit and it was wonderful to have both cars qualify for the Super Pole. Unfortunately we had to start the race from very far back due to the penalty but I am happy with how well we recovered.
“I enjoyed my home ePrix and it was great to feel confident in the car and be able to really push to gain positions. Our race strategy and pit stops were good and it was very satisfying to go wheel-to-wheel with other drivers and have some fun overtaking on the track, especially in front of a home crowd.”
His teammate Bruno Senna wasn’t able to show the competitiveness of his Mahindra as he damaged his front wing early in the race, forcing him to pit and effectively putting him out of the race. The Brazilian was able to secure the fastest lap of the race however, giving him two more points for the Drivers’ Championship.
“We have had a great weekend here in Berlin. I found our qualifying pace very encouraging and the car felt great,” Senna said after the conclusion of the Berlin ePrix. “If we had not had this grid penalty I feel we could have fought for a podium today. The nose cone change put us out of contention very early in the race which compromised any chance of a competitive race finish.”
