Credit: LAT Images courtesy of FIA Formula E
Jake Dennis admitted after the opening race of the London E-Prix double-header that he couldn’t “get close to describing” the emotions of winning the World Championship.
The British driver finished second in the opening race of the season finale in his home city, to clinch the 2022/23 Formula E World Championship.
He was forced to do it the hard way on Saturday, despite having qualified on the front row. Dennis qualified third but was promoted to second, due to a grid-penalty for pole sitter Mitch Evans.
The World Champion made a poor start to the race, which saw him fall behind Sébastian Buemi at the opening corner. This enabled Envision Racing to run 1-2, with Nick Cassidy having inherited pole position.
Cassidy entered the race as Dennis’ main title rival, but the New Zealander was forced to retire following a shocking collision with his team-mate, which unfolded in front of Dennis’ eyes.
However, Dennis was quickly informed by Avalanche Andretti that Cassidy retiring hadn’t assured him the title, as Mitch Evans had worked his way to the front mid-race. Evans entered the weekend a sizeable 44 points behind Dennis, yet him being in first whilst Dennis sat in fifth meant he was mathematically still in the fight.
Dennis was informed that he had to finish at least third if Evans won to clinch the crown, something the Jaguar TCS Racing driver did following two red flag stoppages. Dennis ultimately finished second following a series of bizarre events, which included António Félix da Costa being slapped with a three-minute time penalty.
Da Costa had finished second, but was demoted to last following the penalty. Dennis was amongst the action all race, with him having been incredibly vocal over the radio throughout.
He admitted after the race that it was a “very high pressure environment” which he’d never felt before, and that he was definitely “stressed”.
“Yeah, everything,” Dennis told Motorsport Week, when asked if he felt like the race was going against him.
“I felt like everyone was against me mid-race. Obviously, the stars were aligned going into it this home race.
“I performed well here and yeah, I mean, that race had absolutely everything. Two red flags, safety cars, crashes, dive bombs, and we came out on top to become World Champion. But it wasn’t easy.
“I was stressed. It was a very high pressure environment and emotions which I’d never really experienced before.”
An issue Dennis had early in the race was that he was being ganged up on by both Envision drivers, something which left the British driver helpless. Dennis had no wingman, something Pascal Wehrlein was seemingly supposed to be for him.
Wehrlein fought Dennis very aggressively mid-race, something the 28-year-old admitted went against the “game plan” Andretti and Porsche had devised ahead of the race. Wehrlein actually ended up colliding with René Rast when ahead of Dennis, something which saw the World Champion make up two crucial places.
“Yeah, we had a bit of a game plan going into the race and, yeah, there were times where I felt like it wasn’t really being executed well enough,” Dennis said.
“So, yeah, in a high pressure environment, I was like, I need Pascal to help me. And he was doing the complete opposite at times, so he was doing his own race. But it just made my life a bit more difficult.
“And obviously he ended up making contact with Rast, which I didn’t see or anything like that, but obviously helped us gain a couple of positions, which was important. And, yeah, we did just enough.”
With a record-breaking 10 podiums this season, including two wins, Dennis is certainly a deserving World Champion. He is the first British driver to have won the Formula E title, and the eighth driver overall to have won the series.
Crossing the line at the ExCeL Centre to win the title was a moment Dennis will never forget, with him having felt so much “relief” to have gotten the job done.
“Emotions I can’t even get close to describing properly, especially when I cross the line, it’s just noise which just came out of my mouth. Just a relief of so much hard work gone into it and I’m so, so happy,” said an elated World Champion.
As the Drivers’ Championship is sealed for Dennis, he can enter the final day of the season on Sunday with “no pressure”. He’s very much looking forward to “some fun Sunday night”, where he plans to celebrate his title in style.
“For sure. I would have celebrated second, probably drowning my sorrows, but now I can celebrate a win,” Dennis added.
“So, yeah, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, but, yeah, it’s going to be a good day tomorrow. I get to drive a race car with no pressure and have some fun Sunday night.”
Keyword: Dennis ‘can’t get close to describing’ title glory emotions