Formula E | Race | São Paulo E-Prix | Dennis storms to victory - Motorsport

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After a hectic Qualifying session in São Paulo, the Formula E grid were ready to take on the season opener.

The field lined up with Jake Dennis on pole after Pascal Wehrlein received a three-place grid penalty for wheel spinning in the pit lane. Dan Ticktum joined him on the front row, followed by Edoardo Mortara and Wehrlein behind. Next were Nyck De Vries and Antonio Felix Da Costa. Fourth row was filled by Norman Nato and Jean-Eric Vergne. Mitch Evans and Sebastien Buemi rounded out the top ten.

Notably, reigning champion, Oliver Rowland, was handed a three-place grid penalty for an incident with Nico Müller from Round 16 in London last season. The penalty will be served at the São Paulo E-Prix.

Green flags ahead at the E-Prix

As the red lights went out, the season opener of Formula E Season 12 was underway. With the race being one lap shorter than the previous year, it gives the drivers a bit more to play with.

The polesitter had a great launch off the line, flying ahead of the rest of the front runners. Drama immediately came as the two Mahindras collide in Turn 1. Nyck De Vries failed to stop as he runs into the side of his teammate, Mortara. Mortara was lucky to stay running. Ticktum suffered a hit from the collide of the Mahindras as he got a rear left puncture.

Mortara got handed a 5-second time penalty as a result of failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions. Rowland finds a tiny gap to perform a double overtake by diving on the inside of Taylor Barnard. Meanwhile, Jake Dennis fell back down to fourth, despite his good start.

Attack Mode deployed

First attack mode is taken by Vergne as he flew up the field with his four minutes of attack mode. Di Grassi followed close behind to be the second driver to take attack mode. Lap 8 saw De Vries head into the pits as he looked to suffer a puncture from his earlier incident. The Dutchman found himself at the back of the field as his day kept getting tougher.

Vergne was charging his way up the grid, taking the lead however with Rowland luring behind in attack mode he needed to get his elbows out. As Vergne’s energy consumption sat at 66%, and his attack mode minutes tumble down, Rowland, Da Costa and Wehrlein move ahead of him.

Ticktum’s day went from as he was noted for the team working on the car in an unsafe condition.

With 20 seconds of attack mode left, Evans found his way to the front to fight for the top spots. Further back, Dennis is pushed closer to the wall by Buemi in Turn 4. Wehrlein appeared to be the driver playing the long game as he was one of the last frontrunners to take attack mode. While the others in the top ten only had seconds left, Wehrlein still had over a minute of attack mode left.

Teammate Battles

By Lap 15, Mortara and Nato went side by side dueling to take the corner. Both drivers refused to back out of the battle, but Mortara came out on top in third place.

Further back down, rookie Pepe Marti fought his way to sixth with more energy to go. Up ahead, Dennis had the best energy in the top six with half a race to go.

Another teammate battle came to be as Nato was pushed by Rowland, creating contact between the two Nissan’s. Nato’s race looked to be over as he was forced into the pit lane because of a puncture from the contact. He returned at the back of the grid.

Safety Car deployed

Yellow flags were out on Lap 19 as Nato stopped on track. Another driver who suffered was Ticktum as he brought the car back to the pits and was forced to retire.

With 9 laps to go, Rowland took his last attack mode. He stormed through the field, however he could still suffer from low energy during the last few laps. Nick Cassidy, Joel Eriksson and Maximilian Günther follow closely to take their last attack mode of the race with 8 laps to go.

Heavy contact between Mortara and Di Grassi as the Mahindra was shoved into the wall of Turn 4. Di Grassi left Mortara with no space, as the aggressive move left costly damage. While he tried to keep the car going, Mortara could not get a move on.

As the Safety car came out, homehero Di Grassi headed into the pits with a heavily damaged car. The Brazilian became the fourth retirement of the E-Prix.

The last few laps came with lots of drama. As more than 80% of the race was completed, race control did not add any additional laps.

As the race was green flagged on Lap 26 out of 30, the cars found themselves immensely close. Both Andretti’s had another attack mode left, as Dennis entered attack mode while fourth on the grid. Druguvich quickly followed to take his last attack mode and try to make his way through the field. Dennis found himself in first place as the yellow flags came out once again.

Red flag as Marti suffered huge incident

The safety car was once again out as Evans found the wall at Turn 10.

Soon after, the red flag came out as Pepe Marti’s car was on fire with his car absolutely destroyed. The rookie had an amazing debut before the massive incident. Marti’s car rolled over the two cars ahead of him as they slowed down. The two cars right ahead of him were breaking and Marti had no where to go, his Cupra Kiro flipping over them.

While Marti attempted to avoid running into the back of Müller, there was no where else to go. The rookie was luckily able to walk away from accident unharmed.

Restart with two laps to go

After the red flag and the cars were cleared from the track, the race was back on. With a one-lap shootout, the fight for the podium was bound to be intense. Lap 29 of 30 took place under Safety Car conditions, as the rolling start was on. With Dennis, Rowland, and Cassidy as the top three, the restart could change the podium contenders.

With one lap to go, Dennis immediately attempted to create a gap behind him. De Vries took his final attack mode sitting twelfth in the field. Jake Dennis took his first race victory since 2024. He also became the first driver to start from pole and take victory at the São Paulo E-Prix. Reigning champion Oliver Rowland took P2 closely behind while Nick Cassidy secured a podium on debut for Citroen Racing.

Provisional Race Results: