Pascal Wehrlein and Jerome d’Ambrosio will start Formula E’s Mexico City E-Prix from the back of the grid after receiving penalties after Mahindra replaced both gearboxes.
Both gearboxes had to be changed after a potential reliability issue was discovered ahead of this weekend’s race, resulting in 40 place grid penalties for each of the drivers.
An equipment change under article 28.4 and 28.5 of the current sporting regulations states that “each car is provided with two electric motor-generator units, two gearboxes, two inverters and one battery pack for the entire championship season”.
28.5 details that “should a car use more than what is allocated in article 28.4, it will drop 20 places on the starting grid for the next race in which it takes part”.
Mahindra broke the seals on its gearbox to access parts that needed attention prior to the track action beginning with the brief shakedown on Friday.
However, the penalties for both Wehrlein and d’Ambrosio will be applied with a maximum possible grid drop from where they have qualified and then one of a five-second time penalty, a 10-second time penalty, or a drive-through penalty depending on where they finish in qualifying.