Where is Formula E’s first-ever manufacturer to sign up to the Formula E vision right now?
This is no vacuous ponder of a question. It’s a layered one, which has intricate narratives that will shape Mahindra’s future in the world’s only all-electric world championship.
The first manufacturer to commit to the all-electric vision back in November 2013 almost a year before the first ever race in Beijing, Mahindra has risen, plummeted and risen again in that time.
Amid the nostalgic mutual backslapping of its Season 12 launch in London earlier this month, which saw a rare appearance by its leader, Anand Mahindra, there was both a feeling of solid continuity and enthused potential in the air.
The former centred upon the messaging outlined by both Mr Mahindra, Formula E team principal Frederic Bertrand and the C-suites from Liberty Global and Formula E Operations, who were out in force.
The rhetoric was praiseworthy on both sides with Mahindra talking memorably regarding Mahindra’s rise from the ashes of its annus horribilis of 2023.
“Our credo in the Mahindra Group is encapsulated in one word 'rise', and it generally talks about helping our communities in which we work and 'rise’,” said Mahindra.
“But it's also about resilience, also about knowing how to not get up, dust yourself off when you fall. I remember about 25 years ago, the leadership conference I showed that famous clip from [the Oscar-winning film] ‘Chariots of Fire’ where [athlete] Eric Liddle [played by Ian Charleston] get up after a fall and then he won the race.
“I want to thank Fred, Nyck [de Vries], Edo [Mortara] and the whole team, that's what you did last year, and that's a better story. It's about rising to the challenge.”
Mahindra’s reference to the indomitable Liddle was memorable because the legendary athlete was often cast as the underdog.
From the other side, there was equal loquaciousness with Jeff Dodds, Alberto Longo and the ultimate head of Formula E via majority stakeholders Mike Fries unswerving in their praise for Mahindra’s commitment to the world championship.
As scene setters go, this was one of the more ebullient ones of recent seasons, and rightly so in the sense of Mahindra finishing fourth last season, and in Mortara and De Vries, having two well-established drivers that have multiple wins on their CVs.
How Mahindra got Back on Track
At the end of 2022 and throughout 2023, Mahindra was in a bit of a mess.
Parts of its team were demotivated, its relationship with technology partner ZF was cranky to say the least and its drivers Lucas di Grassi (above) and Oliver Rowland lost faith and patience with the project.
Changes had to be made, and they were. Frederic Bertrand was pragmatic and accepted that a makeover was needed.
Bertrand brought in Jeremy Colancon from Maserati MSG to head up the performance side while Josef Holden, with former Mercedes F1 and FE engineer Tony Ross as a consultant, led the technical direction of the team.
There was also a strong youth recruitment element to the way Mahindra was being re-worked too, with technical director Josef Holden telling The Race that this worked hand in glove with a beefing up of the senior technical team after Colancon arrived in the autumn of 2023.
“What we have seen is that we've had multiple new members join the team, both on a junior level, but also the senior engineering personnel to be able to guide them,” said Holden.
“What we've fundamentally done is somewhat replicate the manufacturer and customer team structure, but internally. So, we're all one team, but we want to make sure we're getting the best out of each other.
“What we do is kind of ebb and flow with each other, push and pull to say ‘okay, well, what can we achieve technically? Is that what at the racetrack is really going to demand, but then at the same time on the racetrack, say ‘we need this, that’ and ‘this is what we want to bring to the next race.’
“This allows us to have a good direct scope. So as a result, we've built that internally whereby we're working together but trying to keep that little bit of back and forth that allows us to come up with fresh ideas and challenge each other to deliver.”
Looking back retrospectively, Bertrand states that this functional approach, which has seen a mix of youth and experience work together, has had a positive impact across the team and as a consequence the group.
“We were slowly looking at the team going backward, backward and backward, and not giving necessarily a very strong image of the group,” admitted Bertrand.
“The fact now that we have been able to turn around the project and change the dynamic has created a few positives. The first one is curiosity and in some cases, adoption too, because they like the idea that we have been able to do that turnaround.
“And, because we give a much better image, and that they are really starting to feel the hype around what we do, motorsport in general, the team in Formula E, and the cars we want to sell, probably creates an additional idea or reason for adopting the project in a much bigger way.”
That has been evident with the unanimous public backing of it, with the parent company being so positive in London last week. Yet there are still some big decisions left unknown.
Gen 4 Manufacturer? Customer? Or Bit of Both?
But while Anand Mahindra is at the top of the company as chairman, it is actually Anish Shah, the CEO of Mahindra and Mahindra, who is the operational decision maker.
Shah frequented the launch too and it is he who will ultimately also influence the direction which Mahindra will go for the Gen4 period from 2026 to 2030.
What is undisputed is that Mahindra will be there. They will enter a fourth epoch of Formula E competition; it’s just a case of whether they register as a manufacturer, which is the model they have had since 2015 or whether they utilise someone else’s powertrain.
There is a way in which they can kind of do both and it is this structure which is believed to be the favourite right now.
That would involve a deal with a rival manufacturer where potentially a white-labelling of a powertrain will give Mahindra certain rights over it. Stellantis has been in talks with Bertrand for some time and in some quarters of the paddock is seen as a favourite for such a scenario.
The Race has been asking Bertrand since January of this year which way they will turn for Gen4 – as a manufacturer, full customer or the so-called ‘third-way’. As of yet there is no definitive decision. But one thing is clear, Mahindra will not be running at the first Gen4 group test next month.
“It's not the easiest part of my day, let's be honest, because there are still things that we cannot communicate properly,” says Bertrand.
“I would say right now, they (Mahindra board) are expecting so much from Season 12, that is the key point. Let's deliver season 12 and what will happen after they know that one way or another, we will be there. That's the first thing.
“And the second is that we will be there in a way which keeps us competitive.”
What Bertrand can’t afford is a repeat of the first season of Gen3 in 2023 when the team finished 10th from 11 teams and were forced to withdraw participation from the Cape Town E-Prix due to a component failure.
“Everything we do is consolidating plans which are helping us to stay on a positive trend of performance,” adds Bertrand.
“Right now, we have no big doubt that we will be a manufacturer anyway, until the end of September (2026), because the current cycle is there. So, we can have a lot of work still happening.
“Then what will start after? There are plenty of options. Normally, we will have a good one, whatever happens.”
There is a strong element of hedging performance bets going on here, too. Bertrand, a known political manoeuvrer in his days at the FIA, has brought that from his locker to the other side of the fence as a team principal too.
“For us, being a customer is still of interest,” he admits.
“The question is to find a way that we can do it, but bringing into the package what we know, that can be a type of approach which makes sense.”
Whatever Mahindra decide upon for Gen4, the fact that they are still in the game after their 2023 nadir and are now a genuine darkhorse for a potential title crack in 2025, is a tribute to an indefatigable tenacity that lots of its rivals on the grid would love to have right now.
