Racing lines: How Mahindra has given one British driver new hope in Formula E

“I know why it hasn’t worked out elsewhere, and not a lot of it has been in my control,” says an upbeat and cheerful Lynn. “The fact that I’m back here at Mahindra full-time is testament that they see that and know they can count on me. There’s a lot of motivation for me to prove some things wrong. Honestly, I’m enjoying the challenge. It’s good to feel your own fire, to wake up every morning with huge determination. The team reflects that too, coming off the back of a difficult season for them, which is why I feel quite at home.”

High-speed chess

As the son of a prolific historic racer, Lynn has been immersed in motorsport since childhood and is all too aware of the stigma that Formula E still carries for many diehards. But he doesn’t care. Even without BMW and Audi (whose works team is also quitting), this is the place to be for drivers who lack the means to break into F1. Lynn’s description of racing in Formula E gives a taste of the kick he gets out of it.

“It’s chaotic,” he says. “There’s a lot of contact and robust overtaking. It’s a bit like go-karting: you either pass or be passed. There’s no stagnant period where you can just hold your ground. If someone decides to spend their energy and overtake you, that’s blood in the water for the others and they want a piece of that action too.

“You’re always on a knife-edge of trying not to spend energy but trying not to get overtaken. The tactics that go into saving energy is the biggest difference [to conventional racing]. Someone described it as a really fast game of chess, and in a way that’s right.”

A bit like rallying

Lynn cites the relationship with his performance and race engineers as the key to unlocking the results that have so far eluded him. “If you haven’t got the right person in your ear giving you feedback – and there’s a lot – it won’t work,” he says. “It’s a bit like rallying: your engineer is your co-driver, reading the race for you.”

His good relationship with Sims also matters (as long as he ultimately beats him, of course). “We get on really well; Simsy is a very professional guy,” says Lynn. “We know we need to work with each other to improve the package we’ve been given, to try to beat everyone else. It’s so competitive; you need a good information flow between the two cars.”

Winning Le Mans

Lynn’s focus for now is to “pick up some trophies” in Formula E. But in recent years, he has enjoyed a parallel life as a works GTE driver in the World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans. But that has now come to a crashing halt, following Aston Martin’s disappointing factory withdrawal from sports cars as it shifts its focus to F1.

“It’s hard, because we had just got into the stride with the new Vantage,” says Lynn, who admits the decision was a “surprise”. But in the wake of winning the GTE Pro class at Le Mans last September with team-mates Harry Tincknell and Maxime Martin, Lynn doesn’t hide his ambition to go one better at some point in the near future.

“Now I’ve won my class, my dream is to win Le Mans overall,” he says. “I woud love to go back to prototypes with the LMDh class on the way. Right now, I’m focused purely on Formula E, but my plan is to try to push for a good seat in LMDh too. It’s looking really good; everyone is excited. If you have factory-supported privateer teams, as looks likely, the heyday of what world sports car racing used to be could return.”