Felipe Drugovich praised Andretti’s performance at the 2026 Formula E Sanya E-Prix despite a post-race penalty dropping him from second to fifth.
Drugovich started alongside teammate Jake Dennis after Andretti secured a front-row lockout in qualifying. The Brazilian crossed the line behind Dennis to provisionally complete the first one-two finish in the team’s Formula E history.
However, the stewards handed Drugovich a five-second penalty after they judged his contact with Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein avoidable. The penalty promoted CUPRA KIRO’s Pepe Martí to a career-best second place, while Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries inherited third.
Drugovich initially celebrated another Formula E podium at the Sanya E-Prix
Before the stewards announced the penalty, Drugovich believed he had secured his second consecutive podium following his maiden top-three finish at the previous round in Monaco.
The Andretti driver felt particularly proud to have contributed to the team’s dominant Qualifying performance and apparent race one-two.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s a great thing to be standing on the podium here again, two podiums in a row, and especially this one feels really special to bring the podium and the qualifying 1-2 for the team. So yeah, I’m really, really happy.”
Drugovich had endured a difficult weekend in Berlin earlier in the season, but his performances in Monaco and Sanya demonstrated the progress he had made since then. He explained that his earlier struggles had come from a lack of Formula E experience rather than an inability to recover mentally from disappointing results.
“Yeah, I mean, honestly, in the car, I always managed to reset and do the job that I needed. Obviously, it was not because of the mental state that I was on. It’s just because I didn’t have the experience yet. But now I think we’re doing a good job and yeah, happy about it.”
Drugovich faced a demanding supporting role behind Dennis
Dennis maintained the lead at the start, while Drugovich remained close behind during the opening stages. The changing Attack Mode strategies repeatedly altered the order before a multi-car incident involving Mitch Evans and Zane Maloney triggered a red flag on Lap 19.
The stoppage gave Andretti another opportunity to restart from the front row. Dennis again led away, with Drugovich working to manage his own energy while also protecting his team-mate from the drivers behind.
Drugovich admitted that balancing those responsibilities made the race particularly challenging.
“Yeah, it was really cool. It was really cool. First time for me doing this type of work.So yeah, it was not easy, especially being in that position of trying to be efficient, but keep all the pack behind and not attack Jake. So yeah, the hard work was just doubled. So yeah, it was tough, but it was very rewarding.“
Andretti had considered swapping its drivers during the race to allow both Dennis and Drugovich to conserve energy. However, the unpredictable nature of the contest, which included two Full Course Yellow periods and the earlier red flag, forced the team to repeatedly adjust its approach.
When asked when the original plan had changed, Drugovich admitted that the number of strategic revisions had made it difficult to identify one decisive moment.
“To be honest, I have no idea. The plan has changed so many times throughout the race that I don’t even know what the original plan was.”
Dennis eventually regained the lead after activating his final Attack Mode and used his energy advantage to secure the victory. Drugovich followed him across the line before the stewards changed the final classification.
Penalty denied Andretti a historic one-two finish
The five-second sanction ended Drugovich’s hopes of recording consecutive Formula E podiums and denied Andretti its first championship one-two.
Despite the disappointment, Drugovich focused on the pace Andretti had shown throughout the weekend. The team had placed both cars on the front row and initially converted that result into the top two positions in the race.
“A really solid day for the team. A one-two in qualifying and a one-two in the race but a post-race penalty denied us of the result. Qualifying was pretty straightforward, the car felt great and we always wanted to be starting near the front. The race was another story. We tried to stick to our plan but it didn’t really work out. We got separated a few times in the race, and it almost worked out in the end thanks to the great strategy we had. The focus now turns to Shanghai to try and get back on the podium.”
Although Drugovich lost the silverware, Andretti’s performance underlined the progress both he and the team had made. Dennis left Sanya with the victory, while Drugovich turned his attention towards converting his improving pace into another podium at the next round in Shanghai.
