Roberto Merhi will probably be making his Formula E debut with Mahindra Racing on the Jakarta E-Prix this weekend. He’ll be changing Oliver Rowland, who has parted methods with the Indian crew for the remainder of the season.

The double-header spherical will happen on June 3-4.

1. Merhi changing Rowland at Mahindra
2. Only Jakarta outing confirmed up to now

Ex-F1 driver Roberto Merhi joins Mahindra

Merhi participated within the Berlin rookie check for Mahindra alongside Jehan Daruvala and sim driver Jordan King. He’d earlier raced for Marussia within the 2015 F1 season, later switching to sportscar and endurance racing.

“Roberto has impressive experience in top-level racing and a good track record in major championships. He had a great run with us at the Rookie Test in Berlin last month and we could see he had the potential to become a great asset for the Mahindra Racing team,” mentioned Mahindra Racing CEO Frederic Bertrand.

He added, “It’s not easy to jump in mid-season, but Roberto has experience of working with the team, so I’m sure he will slot into the team brilliantly.”

Will Daruvala make his Formula E debut?

It is known that Mahindra initially wished to advertise reserve driver Jehan Daruvala to a race seat. However, the Jakarta race clashes with the F2 spherical in Spain.

The Indian driver acquired his first style of driving the Mahindra M9Electro out on observe on the Berlin rookie check final month. Daruvala revealed that he “got used to the car pretty quickly” and completed the check within the prime 10.

Mahindra has fastidiously worded its official assertion to emphasize that Merhi will solely race at Jakarta for now. So this does depart the door open for Daruvala to make his Formula E debut at a future race. Barring the London Formula E finale, which is on the identical weekend because the Belgian GP, the remainder of the calendar has no extra clashes both.

Rowland leaves Mahindra Racing

Mahindra says a “mutual agreement has been reached between Oliver Rowland and the team for him to step aside for the next seven races”. The information comes after Rowland injured his left hand following a crash within the Monaco E-Prix. However, that is unlikely to be the explanation for his exit, since he’d already been given the clear to race.

Rowland joined Mahindra Racing full time final 12 months and picked up 32 of the 46 factors the crew scored in 2022. But 2023 has been a very tough season for Mahindra they usually’re at the moment tenth within the championship, with solely buyer crew Abt behind them. Speaking after the Berlin E-Prix, Bertrand admitted the crew was nonetheless combating effectivity.

Also see:

Cassidy wins Monaco E-Prix to take Formula E championship lead

Jehan Daruvala: “My future lies in Formula E”