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Wehrlein signs up to Formula E with Mahindra

Mahindra Racing has succeeded in snapping up former DTM champion and Sauber F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein to race for them full time in season 5 of the ABB Formula E all-electric championship.

Wehrlein will be paired with another former Formula 1 driver, with Jérôme d'Ambrosio announced as his team mate for 2019.

“I’m very happy to be joining Mahindra Racing, said Wehrlein. "It’s a small team but with really high ambitions and I have the same high ambitions.

"I want to achieve the best possible results and I have a feeling the team is the right environment for me. I’m looking forward to the season and I will give my best."

Vandoorne confirms move to Formula E with HWA!

Wehrlein had been hoping to make it back into F1 next season and even turned down the offer of a race seat at HWA to keep his focus on that prospect. That seat has now been picked up by current McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne.

But news that George Russell has been signed to race for Williams next year meant that there are now very few vacancies left on the Grand Prix grid, leaving the chance of competing in Formula E looking increasingly irresistible to the 23-year-old.

While it will be a new experience for Wehrlein, his new team mate has plenty of experience driving in Formula E. D'Ambrosio is a veteran of the series with four years at Dragon Racing under his belt.

“I’m super excited to join Mahindra Racing," he said. "I’ve known some people in the team for more than ten years and haven’t managed to work together with them yet and now we are going to have that opportunity, which is a great prospect.

"I think we have a great team and a really dedicated bunch of people with the possibility of doing something great so I am really motivated to make sure that we achieve the results that the team deserves."

Nick Heidfeld remains with Mahindra as test and reserve driver, with Belgium's Sam Dejonghe remaining as simulator and development driver.

The team also unveiled its new livery, an evolution of the team’s iconic and unique red, white and blue colour scheme which has been updated and created to reflect the exhilarating new design of the Gen2 car.

“I am truly thrilled to be able to announce what I believe is one of the most exciting and dynamic driver line-ups on the grid, packed full of talent," said team principal Dilbagh Gill.

"We are delighted that Pascal will join the team as he begins a new racing challenge in Formula E. As a young and enthusiastic yet incredibly experienced driver, he is a valuable addition to the team.

"Having Jérôme join Mahindra Racing with his years of experience and multiple wins in this championship is something we are also extremely excited about. He is very motivated to bring success to Mahindra and has already been working hard behind the scenes preparing for the season."

Preparations for the new Formula E campaign formally begin today, with pre-season testing taking place at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain between 16-19 October which is open to the public. The first race of the season takes place in Saudi Arabia on December 15.

Pre-season testing driver/team line-up

Envision Virgin Racing
Sam Bird
Robin Frijns

Panasonic Jaguar Racing
Nelson Piquet Jr
Mitch Evans

HWA Racelab
Stoffel Vandoorne
Gary Paffett
Daniel Juncadella

Geox Dragon
Maximilian Gunther
Antonio Fuoco
Jose Maria Lopez

NIO Formula E Team
Oliver Turvey

Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team
Lucas di Grassi
Daniel Abt

Venturi Formula E Team
Felipe Massa
Edoardo Mortara

Nissan e.dams
Alexander Albon
Sebastien Buemi

DS Techeetah
Jean-Eric Vergne
Andre Lotterer

BMW i Andretti Motorsport
Alexander Sims
Antonio Felix da Costa

Mahindra Racing
Pascal Wehrlein
Jérôme d'Ambrosio

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.