Edoardo Mortara has reflected on what has been a difficult first season with Mahindra Racing in 2023/24.
The Swiss driver will be going into his eighth season in Formula E in December, having spent his first five seasons in the category with Venturi.
During that time between 2017 and 2022, Mortara achieved six victories and a total 13 podiums with the team.
The 37-year-old was also a title contender in his final two seasons with the Monegasque team, finishing runner-up to Nyck de Vries in 2020/21 by seven points and third the following year.
Mortara left Venturi and joined Maserati MSG Racing for the 2022/23 campaign, where he would finish 14th in the standings with 39 points.
Edoardo Mortara explains difficult first season with Mahindra
After just one year with Maserati, Mortara made the switch to Mahindra Racing for this season, partnering with 2020/21 champion De Vries.
The team experienced a difficult start to the season, not helped by a battery fire in Valencia during pre-season testing that hampered their preparations, and points finishes were hard to come by.
But things took a turn for the better at the halfway point of the season as Mortara took a stunning pole position at the first race in Berlin, and although he dropped down the order in the race, he registered the team’s first points by finishing eighth.
Mahindra continued a steady progression towards the end of the season where they regularly competed in the duels stage of qualifying and Mortara achieved two top five finishes in the final four races.
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Speaking with RacingNews365, the Swiss driver says he has enjoyed his first season with the team and the challenges he has faced.
“I’ve enjoyed it very much,” he said.
“Of course, you have the results on one side and they’ve not been like, great. I had better seasons in Formula E, but I think it’s more of a question of the journey that we’re having altogether and I enjoy actually these challenges where, you know it’s not starting perfectly.
“But then with work and with dedication of everyone, you’re actually improving this situation and it’s something that even people outside can see.
“I enjoy very much working with the team in terms of environment. It’s a really cool environment to work in and I’m definitely enjoying actually working with my engineers and mechanics.”
Mahindra are looking to get back to the top of Formula E
Mahindra have retained Mortara and de Vries for Season 11 as they look to close the gap to the frontrunners and move up the grid.
One of the ten founding members of Formula E in 2014/15, the team have won five races in their history through Felix Rosenqvist, Jerome d’Ambrosio and Alex Lynn and have achieved a best finish of third in the team’s championship in 2016/17.
However, since 2019, the team have not finished above eighth in the standings and have scored only two podiums in the last three seasons.
Despite a slow start to 2023/24, Mahindra have made solid progress, with them achieving a fourth and fifth place finish at the penultimate race of the season in London.