Mahindra Racing’s Nick Heidfeld was content to come away with points following a difficult day at the office in Marrakesh.
Unlike teammate Felix Rosenqvist – who scored the team’s first pole position – Heidfeld had another poor outing in qualifying, but this time around he was not able to repeat the race performance that got him a podium in the season opener in Hong Kong.
Lining up eleventh on the grid, Heidfeld found himself in the midfield battle in the opening phases of the race where he appeared to pick up some damage but was able to continue.
Despite struggling to work his way through the field, the German found himself in tenth before opting to pit earlier than most and was then tasked with saving more energy than other drivers in his second car whilst also trying to at least maintain his position. He was able to pass Stephane Sarrazin for ninth position, but Oliver Turvey was a position too far and had to settle for ninth.
“It was a very difficult race for me, especially in the first stint,” said the German. “There was quite a bit of contact from the start that cost me time and maybe caused some damage, I am not quite sure but the balance of the first car was quite poor. One of the drivers apologised to me after which I really appreciate. I completed a reasonably long second stint compared to the others and while that made it very difficult to gain many positions, the pace including regen was still competitive. I was able to get some points here in Marrakesh but what is really promising is that Mahindra Racing has achieved two podiums in two races. With Felix’s first pole position we are joint second in the championship which is obviously fantastic, but we always want to be even better.”
