Mahindra Racing Team Principal Dilbagh Gill has said that the Indian marque must secure consistency if it is to mount a serious championship campaign in Formula E.
Mahindra went into Season 5 with a refreshed driver line-up, with Jerome d'Ambrosio joining the team from Dragon Racing while ex-F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein completed his rookie campaign with the squad.
At the start of the campaign, Mahindra was one of this season's frontrunners, with d'Ambrosio securing third place in Ad Diriyah before winning in Marrakesh while Wehrlein came close to taking his maiden win in Santiago and Mexico City.
Contrasting the first half, however, Mahindra's second half of the season was low-key and disappointing, collecting only 28 points from the Rome E-Prix onwards in comparison to the 97 points it collected in the previous six rounds.
This saw the squad claim sixth in the Teams' Championship, failing to match its points tally from Seasons 3 and 4.
For Gill, while the season showed encouraging pace and performances for both d'Ambrosio and Wehrlein, it is vital for the team to secure consistency if it is to challenge Formula E frontrunners:
"It's been a mixed season of highs and lows," said Gill. "I am proud of the whole team for our stunning win in Marrakesh and our other podiums.
"We have also showed incredible pace at most races, and have achieved seven Super Pole appearances.
"What we must focus on now as a clear objective for Season 6 is ensuring consistent strong results to enable us to mount a serious championship campaign."
D'Ambrosio, who was leading the Drivers' Championship at the half-way mark this season before finishing outside of the top 10, said that the team can learn from its mistakes for Season 6 and echoed Gill's desire for consistency:
"Overall, I would like to leave this season thinking about the many positives," said the Belgian.
"When you're leading the championship until mid-season you want to be up there fighting for the title. That doesn’t always happen but we know that we are capable, where we can improve and what we can learn from.
"I’d like to thank everyone at Mahindra Racing; we have a lot of great people and I’m sure we'll be able to come back and be more competitive and consistent."
Pascal Wehrlein added: "We started the season well but, unfortunately, did not finish where we wanted to be. I’m happy about some of our races and performance and we had some positives; the podium in Santiago, and six Super Pole appearances for example and I think I’m the second-best qualifying driver this year. The next focus is on a stronger championship campaign."
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