No Love In Paris For Mahindra Yet

With heavy downpour, the Circuit des Invalides experienced plenty of drama with a huge setback for Mahindra Racing as the team are yet to find answers to unlock the French street circuit

- Devesh Shobha

Polesitter Pascal Wehrlein being stripped of his pole position for the Formula E race in Paris was one of the turning points of the race that took place at the Circuit des Invalides, Paris. After displaying phenomenal pace and balance all day in the dry, Mahindra Racing looked well-placed to bag its second victory of the season. However, a tyre pressure infringement on both Mahindra cars lead to their exclusion from the final qualifying results in Paris – both cars were deemed to have run below the minimum required tyre pressure level. Pascal had edged out Nissan’s Oliver Rowland to claim his second Formula E pole in Paris, but was forced to drop to the rear of the grid as a result of the infringement, starting alongside teammate Jerome d’Ambrosio who had originally qualified sixth.

Come Saturday afternoon, the rain gods opened up big time in Paris, leaving the tricky street circuit difficult to tread, thereby starting the race under safety car conditions. Interestingly, despite being the 53rd race in Formula E history, the 2019 Paris E-Prix will go down in history as the series’ first ever wet race, offering up some of the most challenging conditions seen in the championship to date. However, Wehrlein and Jerome had different ideas for the afternoon. Starting from the back of the grid, both drivers made up for lost ground rather quick and gradually climbed up the drivers’ classification on a rain-soaked circuit where most other cars were struggling to stay away from the barriers.