Formula E: Nick Heidfeld replaces Chandok in Mahindra Racing

Mahindra Racing has officially announced that Nick Heidfeld will team up with their existing driver Bruno Senna for the second season for the Formula E Championship. The duo incidentally came in 6^th and 7^th on the first day testing that kicked off season two at Donington Park in England.

However, the initial bragging rights went to Sebastien Buemi of Renault e.dams, who set the pace during a day that was interrupted by a brief rain shower in the mid-afternoon. The quickest time of 1:32.092s, compares to Buemi’s best time of 1:31.083s, set during the penultimate day of pre-season testing last year.

Coming to Heidfeld, the new Mahindra Racing driver who replaced Karun Chandhok, is a Le Mans and former Formula 1 driver for numerous teams. He will drive the Mahindra Racing’s second generation car, the M2Electro in the coming 2015-2016 season of Formula E alongside Bruna Senna.

Karun Chandok, after the dismissal has hinted that he might be heading towards Sportscar Racing in the near future.

Heidfeld was racing in Formula E for the 2014-15 season with the Venturi Racing team and had a best finish of 12^th place out of his 11 starts in the season. The German driver has started work immediately for the team at the pre season testing at Donnigton Park. Currently both drivers sit in 6^th and 7^th with Senna leading the way for Mahindra on Day 1 of testing.

Meanwhile, the first day of testing was the first public outing for the season two technology, with eight new manufacturers producing powertrains. However, neither Andretti – in its new Amlin livery, nor Trulli completed a lap, although both teams expect to run on August 11, 2015.

It was also the first time new Venturi signing Jacques Villeneuve had driven a Formula E car in public. The 1997 Formula 1 world champion ended up in 14th place with a best time of 1:38.176s.

Frenchman Tom Dillmann made his Formula E test debut for Team Aguri, completing a few exploratory laps in the wet ahead of a full run tomorrow. There were familiar faces in unfamiliar colours as Jean-Eric Vergne made his public test debut for DS Virgin Racing, while Nick Heidfeld had his first outing as a Mahindra Racing driver.

FIA Formula E Championship – Donington Park – Pre-season testing (Day 1) – Results:

1. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, 1:32.095s

2. Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, 1:32.158s

3. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.dams, 1:32.286s

4. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, 1:32.523s

5. Salvador Duran, Team Aguri, 1:32.549s

6. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, 1:35.653s

7. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, 1:35.700s

8. Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, 1:36.324s

9. Tom Dillmann, Team Aguri, 1:36.329s

10. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, 1:36.361s

11. Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing, 1:36.704s

12. Loic Duval, Dragon Racing, 1:37.987s

13. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, 1:38.052s

14. Jacques Villeneuve, Venturi, 1:38.176s

15. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, no time set

16. Simona de Silvestro, Andretti, no time set