This is the official press release from Mahindra Racing Formula E Team from the 23rd April 2016:-
[23rd April 2016, Paris] Mahindra Racing Formula E Team leaves France having scored four points in the Paris ePrix. Bruno Senna finished the race in P9 while Nick Heidfeld batted his way from the back of the grid to finish in P12. Nick Heidfeld also recorded the fastest lap of the race, earning him the VISA Fastest Lap Award and two points.
Located at the historic Les Invalides areas of Paris, the bumpy, slippery street surface and low ambient temperatures challenged many drivers, with a number of cars struggling with tyre performance and grip throughout the day. Bruno Senna qualified highest of the two Mahindra Racing drivers, in P13. Nick Heidfeld had contact with the wall and another car in his qualifying lap and started the ePrix from the back of the grid.
#23 Nick Heidfeld said: "The race went well considering I started from the back after my mistake in qualifying. We knew that it wouldn’t be easy to overtake on this circuit and it turned out to be even harder than expected.”
“My initial plan was to use some extra energy to gain positions but I could see the drivers around me locking wheels and going sideways or having contact with each other while pushing so I decided it was not worth the risk. It would have been difficult to gain enough positions to finish in the points. I could have finished one or two places higher but I could also have had an incident.”
“What puts a smile on my face at the end of the day is recording the fastest lap. It shows that we have strong, competitive race pace and it is also a nice reward for the team. It’s always nice to take a trophy home and as one of the most special events we have ever had on the Formula E calendar, it is nice for me to have something at home to remember it.”
#21 Bruno Senna said: “It is good for me to finish in the points for the fourth time in a row this year. Of course, we would always like more and my pace this morning showed that more was possible but this is the kind of consistency we need to maintain at the very least.”
‘It was a frustrating race because I was gaining positions but I was held up by a lapped car which wouldn’t respond to the blue flags to allow me to overtake. We lost energy and time because of this. This happens in racing but our pace was good and we could have finished with a good battle with the car in front and maybe gained another position.”
“Overall, the car felt good, despite the cold temperatures and bumpy surface. The track is very fun and very challenging. It demands a lot of commitment on many corners. I am looking forward to coming back here in the future.”
Dilbagh Gill, Team Principal of Mahindra Racing Formula E Team, said: “This was a bittersweet race for us. We qualified out of place and this is something we need to focus on. It is essential to have everything in place to be consistently fast over one lap.“
“We leave Paris having scored points with both drivers in the race for the fifth time this season in seven races. That’s a solid result but of course we will always want more. The fact that Nick recorded the fastest lap is very encouraging and reflects the true pace of the M2Electro.”
“We have benefited from our reliability and efficiency again, allowing us to control our race but now we must work on improving our starting position.”