Credit: Sam Bagnall courtesy of FIA Formula E
New Formula E World Champion Jake Dennis is pleased to have delivered the Drivers’ Championship to Avalanche Andretti, as a thank you for their immense efforts this season.
Having wrapped up the title last Saturday in the opening race of the season finale double-header in London, Dennis was able to enter the final race of the 2022/23 season incredibly relaxed, knowing that he didn’t have the pressure of the championship to worry about.
Despite this, he still gave it his all at the London E-Prix and qualified fourth on the grid at the ExCeL Centre for the 16th and final round. He found himself behind former title rivals Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans, who were busy duelling for the Constructors’ Championship.
Dennis had joked after winning the title last Saturday that he’d just drive at the back and have fun, something which very few drivers had during the finale. Heavy rain resulted in treacherous conditions, which actually led to two red flags amid safety concerns. The red flag stoppages combined totalled 1h 10m.
When racing finally got underway, Dennis overtook Norman Nato for third when the Frenchman activated his Attack Mode, before finding himself in no man’s land. Cassidy and Evans both cleared off into the distance, with the World Champion having ended the race over 10 seconds behind.
The British driver admitted after the race that the big gap was partly his fault, after using too much energy when behind the Safety Car at the start of the race.
“Yeah, the gap appeared very quickly. I was struggling with a couple of things,” Dennis revealed to Motorsport Week.
“We were 3% down before the race even started due to a mistake from my side with some Safety Car driving. And so I had to recover a lot of energy in the middle part of the race and this allowed them to pull away, but I was never going to be able to get past them and drive away.
“That was never going to be the case. So it was just a matter of keeping out the walls, taking a podium and taking those 15 points.”
The horrific conditions on Sunday certainly tested all the drivers mentally, in what had been a draining weekend for everyone, none more so than for Dennis.
Battling for the title on the opening day in London before dealing with the heavy rain on the second day left the Andretti star exhausted, with Dennis having admitted that it was one of the most mentally draining weekends of his racing career.
“Yeah, I would say so, for sure,” Dennis said.
“Whenever you’ve got this much tension and pressure on you, it’s always going to be a draining weekend, especially after a race like the past two. You know, there were so many Safety Cars yesterday, there were so many red flags today.
“The races were wet, dry. It had everything to throw at me. Obviously, there wasn’t really any pressure today, but it’s so difficult to drive the car and the capacity has to be seriously high.”
Whilst Cassidy, Evans and Dennis all spoke about how the three of them had dominated this season ahead of London, Dennis was arguably the deserving World Champion. His consistency this season has been mesmeric, with him having broken the record for most podiums in a single season.
Dennis remarkably claimed 11 podiums across the 16 rounds in 2023, to obliterate the previous record. His road to title glory also included two wins and two pole positions.
As sensational as he’s been this year, the 28-year-old recognises that he’s “nothing” without Andretti’s relentless hard work, which enabled Dennis to fight for the crown.
He explained after the final race of the season that being able to win the championship was a great way to “repay” the American team for all their efforts, with the “focus” going forwards now being to win the Constructors’ Championship.
“I’m extremely proud. I can’t thank them enough. I’m nothing without my team and every single person inside of it,” said the Briton.
“And yeah, it’s just a cool way to repay them to become World Champion. And we really want to focus on the Teams’ as well in the future. It’s something which, if my team-mate next year can try and match my performance, then we would have absolutely dominated the Constructors’ this year.
“It’s just a shame that Andre [Lotterer] struggled a little bit and couldn’t quite deliver the top results.”
Dennis now has two months off until pre-season testing commences in Valencia at the end of October, where the Champion plans to arrive with a “big smile”.
He’s already looking forward to discovering whether the team will be quick again or not in season 10, although he hasn’t yet considered how he’ll approach his title defence.
‘I don’t know, actually,” Dennis admitted.
“I’m just going to enjoy my off-season and then arrive in Valencia with a big smile on my face and see if we’re quick or not. I don’t even know.”
Keyword: Dennis pleased to ‘repay’ Andretti’s efforts with title success