Mahindra Racing will start this weekend’s Mexico City E-Prix from the back of the field following a pair of 40-place grid penalties for Jerome d’Ambrosio and Pascal Wehrlein.
The Banbury-based team endured a slow start to Season 6, recording only two points from the first two races while reliability issues continually plagued d’Ambrosio – the Belgian failing to start the second leg of the Diriyah E-Prix while facing issues in qualifying in Santiago.
For the fourth race of the season, Mahindra brings an equipment change for its two drivers, introducing two new gearboxes for both cars and therefore breaching Articles 28.4 and 28.5 of 2019/2020 FIA Formula E Championship SportingRegulations.
Changing the equipment outside of Formula E’s homologation period, both d’Ambrosio and Wehrlein will serve 40-place grid penalties at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend, therefore relegating the pair to the back of the field.
Due to the size of this penalty, an additional punishment during the race will be enforced, although the severity of this is dependent upon the amount of grid positions conceded.
If Wehrlein and d’Ambrosio qualify inside the top four, only a drive-through penalty will have to be served. Anything lower will result in a 10-second stop-go penalty.
The Mexico City E-Prix has been a cursed race for Mahindra Racing in recent seasons, with team-mates Nick Heidfeld and Felix Rosenqvist colliding in Season 3, Rosenqvist retiring from the lead in Season 4, and Wehrlein running out of usable energy only meters away from the 2019 edition of the race.