The decision dates to September
Mahindra announced on 29 September 2026 that Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries would continue for the 2026/27 Formula E season, the first of the GEN4 era. The decision preserves a familiar reference while the team prepares for a new generation of machinery. Both joined the team in 2023. Mahindra will therefore approach the technical transition with drivers who already know its people, working procedures and ways of discussing the car’s behaviour.
A third-place foundation
Mahindra finished third in the 2025/26 Teams’ World Championship with 252 points, matching its best championship placing. The pairing delivered two wins, seven podiums and five pole positions. Those figures explain why retaining the drivers represents more than choosing a familiar combination: Mahindra is continuing with the people who helped produce its recent progress. The numbers describe the completed season, however, under a different technical framework from the one the team is preparing to enter.
| Measure | Confirmed detail |
|---|---|
| 2025/26 season | Third; 252 points |
| Combined results | 2 wins; 7 podiums; 5 poles |
| Driver partnership | Mortara and de Vries, both joined in 2023 |
Two forms of experience
De Vries won in Monaco and Tokyo last season and brings the experience of winning the 2020/21 world championship during the GEN2 era. Mortara is preparing for his tenth Formula E season, having made his debut in Hong Kong in 2017. His GEN4 confirmation means he will have raced in every generation of the championship. Mahindra’s retained experience therefore includes both a title-winning campaign and repeated adaptation as the series has evolved.
APEX interpretation: a shared language
In APEX’s interpretation, continuity’s clearest potential benefit lies in the quality of development comparisons. Engineers who already understand a driver’s descriptions can more readily distinguish a new problem from a familiar preference. Keeping both drivers also preserves a shared reference across testing sessions. This is an argument about working methods and the interpretation of feedback. It does not measure the performance of the new car, but it identifies one part of preparation that a stable pairing can support.
A new generation brings new questions
GEN4 still creates a fresh challenge for an established partnership. In the announcement, de Vries emphasised the amount to learn and discover, while Mortara pointed to the scale of the technical challenge. APEX’s reading is that experience removes some uncertainty from collaboration without removing the uncertainty surrounding the car. Previous results offer a useful starting point for evaluation. Competitive advantage must still be built in the new framework, even when the personnel carrying out that work remain familiar.
What to assess next
The useful test of Mahindra’s choice will be whether both drivers’ observations become coherent development priorities and whether the team makes effective use of their shared experience. It has settled one element of its project before the technical change. APEX’s conclusion is confined to that decision: continuity offers useful conditions for learning. Mahindra’s actual position in the GEN4 order will depend on its car and collective execution, neither of which can be established by a driver announcement alone.
