Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal Frederic Bertrand says Kush Maini has the potential to become the team's Formula E driver in the future, but made it clear that the team will not compromise on its competitive ambitions simply to have an Indian behind the wheel.
Maini, Mahindra's reserve driver who also competes in Formula 2, has been involved in the team's development programme and regularly attended races to familiarise himself with the demands of Formula E. He did not get a race in the 2025-26 season.
Karun Chandhok remains the only Indian to have driven for Mahindra since the inaugural season in 2014.
Bertrand said Maini is already "very strongly included" in the Mahindra set-up and could eventually become a "definitive candidate" for a race seat, provided he reaches the level required to compete at the front.
"Kush is doing a very good job but he needs to choose at if he will make his career in Formula E or in Formula 1," Bertrand told PTI ahead of the Formula E season finale here.
"For the moment, it's important that he trains and gets the highest level of background he can get where he is."
Maini's development has been given added importance by Mahindra's desire to strengthen its Indian identity on the global motorsport stage.
The Bengaluru-born driver, who is also part of the Alpine Driver Academy, has been the team's reserve driver since Season 10 and has impressed in testing, including topping a rookie practice session in Jeddah last year.
But Bertrand said nationality alone will not determine Mahindra's driver line-up.
"It has never been a priority to choose a driver for his nationality. It has always been important to choose the best driver we can to make the global team win."
"I didn't look for someone wanting to be the star. I want the team to win. I want Mahindra to win the championship. This is the goal."
Formula E champion Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara currently drive for Mahindra, and Bertrand said both bring the level of experience and competitive ability that the team needs as it attempts to establish itself among the front-runners.
"The driver will be the cherry on the cake. But for the moment the cake is more important than the cherry."
That does not mean Maini is merely a reserve in name.
"He is part of the development. He is coming, for example, on many races where I want him to learn how we deal with Formula E."
"Here you come and you have to deal with different topics like managing the efficiency of the car, managing the energy autonomy, managing the way you deal with a one-day event. So these are things that he is learning every time he comes."
For Maini, Bertrand believes the pathway remains open but only once the Indian driver can demonstrate that he is ready to help Mahindra achieve its ultimate objective.
"One day he will be a definitive candidate for the seat," Bertrand said.
Changing the mentality was key
Maini's continuing role with Mahindra comes as the Indian manufacturer has undergone a change on the track. After a difficult period, the team has emerged as a regular podium contender, with Bertrand crediting a change in mindset, organisational structure and technical expertise for the turnaround.
The Frenchman said the objective when he arrived was to change the team's mentality from one of merely participating to one of believing it could win.
"We slowly moved the mindset of participation to point scoring, to podium capacity and then now to win. And that has been the real journey," he said.
Mahindra's progress has been particularly evident this season. Mortara has taken four pole positions, equalling the Formula E record for most poles by a driver in a single campaign, while de Vries won the Tokyo E-Prix last month.
The team is now looking to build on that momentum at the London double-header, which brings the 2025-26 season and the Gen3 era to a close on August 15-16.
Bertrand, however, knows the next step is consistency.
"The main thing right now is consistency. Consistency in the way we work, with the development side and with the performance," he said.
"Every time you start not doing anything anymore, it's going backward. You don't stay stable in this game because everyone else is moving forward."
Mahindra's Indian connection extends beyond Maini. Bertrand said Indian engineers are working with the race team and taking knowledge back into the wider Mahindra Group, while the team also works closely with Mahindra's technology operations on software and strategy tools.
The team sees Formula E as more than a racing programme, using it as a laboratory for technologies that can eventually benefit road-going electric vehicles.
Bertrand said the knowledge transfer happens through software, high-efficiency powertrain development and people, with lessons in energy management and efficiency potentially helping Mahindra develop electric cars with better range.
"For me, the first reason which should make all Indians very proud is that everybody in the country would be aware of what is happening here and say, 'Wow, those guys are doing it and it's Mahindra,'" he said.
The timing comes as Mahindra continues its Formula E programme. Mahindra became a founding Formula E team in 2013 and has committed to remain in the championship as a manufacturer through at least 2030, entering the Gen4 era next season.
