Jake Dennis converted pole position in São Paulo, breaking a 680-day winless streak, while Pepe Martí escaped an enormous airborne crash late in a race of chaos.
Dennis was closely followed by reigning champion Oliver Rowland and Nick Cassidy after a one-lap shootout, following a late red-flag period for Martí’s shunt. There were frustrations for the other side of the Cupra KIRO garage too, as Dan Ticktum retired following damage from lap one contact with Nyck de Vries.
QUALIFYING
Pascal Wehrlein reigned supreme to take his third consecutive pole position on the streets of São Paulo. However, he was relegated to fourth by what he called a “quite ridiculous” penalty, for transgressing a new rule outlawing any wheelspin in the pit lane.
Wehrlein kept three points for pole, but the first grid spot was inherited by Season 9 champion, Dennis. Ticktum completed the front row, while Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara started in third.
The first qualifying session of the season featured group sessions reduced from 12 minutes to 10. Da Costa, Vergne, Mortara and Dennis were the quickest in Group 1, while Nato, Wehrlein, De Vries and Ticktum advanced from Group 2.
Reigning champion Rowland was frustrated not to compete in the duels, and with a three-place grid penalty following a collision in the Season 11 finale, he would start down in 13th.
It was bitter disappointment for the Brazilian fans as Felipe Drugovich, in his first Formula E qualifying session, retired when he hit the inside wall at turn four. Both Lola Yamaha ABT cars retired from the session prematurely with driveshaft faults.
E-PRIX
A clean getaway from Dennis allowed him to comfortably clear the field before turn one. Behind, things turned wild as Nyck de Vries locked up and collided with his Mahindra team-mate, Mortara, forcing both to cut turn two, while collecting Ticktum and inflicting a puncture to the Cupra KIRO. Ticktum returned to the pits, with a fruitless race from there. Mortara was awarded a five-second penalty for failing to follow the race director’s instructions when he cut across turn two.
The lead shuffled around in the opening laps between Dennis, Wehrlein, Mortara and Da Costa until Attack Mode strategies began to unfold. Vergne and Rowland cycled to the front with the aid of Attack Mode, the latter claiming the lead on lap nine.
The remainder of the leaders took their first Attack Mode on lap 11, parting the way for Wehrlein to claim the lead with Dennis, Mortara and Norman Nato close behind. The lower half of the field delayed their first Attack Mode usage in hopes to gain ground later in the race.
On lap 17, the Nissan team-mates collided at the pinch-point of turn six, fighting for eighth over the same piece of road, forcing Nato to return to the pits with a puncture. Rowland survived, but lost out to Max Günther.
Cassidy made great progress over the following laps with Attack Mode to pressure Dennis for the lead after passing Wehrlein. A second round of Attack Mode usage reshuffled the order up front, putting Rowland in the lead when a Safety Car was triggered by Mortara being shoved by di Grassi into the wall at turn five on lap 22.
Rowland led the field to green flag racing on lap 27, with only the Andretti pair of Dennis and Drugovich with a second round of Attack Mode remaining. Their progress was cut short by another Safety Car period when Mitch Evans found the tyre wall at turn 10.
Rookie Pepe Martí was caught out as the pack reduced speed for the Safety Car delta, sending the Cupra KIRO airborne over the back of Antonio Felix da Costa’s Jaguar. Martí landed with a huge impact – at an awkward angle – inducing a roll down as the car slid down the backstraight.
Marshalls were quick to the scene of the accident – as too was Martí, equipped with a fire extinguisher – confirming the driver was okay. The incident, eerily similar to Wehrlein’s flip against the wall just 12 months ago, triggered an immediate red flag.
The pack restarted a while later, with a single-lap shootout to the chequered flag, where Dennis held off Rowland with Cassidy in-tow to claim Citroen’s first Formula E podium. Wehrlein and Müller rounded out the top five for Porsche.
A post-race penalty for Felipe Drugovich for full-course yellow infringements denied him the strong points debut he hoped for, but allowed Barbados’ Zane Maloney to take his maiden points for Lola Yamaha ABT.
Dennis came away from the season opener with the lead of the drivers’ championship, while Andretti and Porsche tied at the top of the teams’ standings.
It was Dennis’ first victory since the 2024 Diriyah E-Prix. In his post-race interview, he said: “I’m so happy, I didn’t get a win last season so to get it back in the first race is a testament to our off-season work … It’s been a tough couple of seasons since Season 9 so to get the win is good”.
Second-placed Rowland, now adorned with the champion’s #1 on his Nissan, was also satisfied: “I’m very pleased, especially after this morning. We didn’t have the best qualifying … but I’m delighted with the result and I’ll take the points. They are going to be very important – I think it’s going to be extremely close this year”.
It was Citroen’s inaugural podium in their first Formula E weekend, a result which Cassidy remarked as “awesome”.
The ABB FIA Formula E championship will return with round two in the new year, 10th January, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico.
MotorPost 
Leave a comment