Jake Dennis has won the Formula E season opener in Sao Paulo in a one-lap sprint to the finish after a late red flag for a huge crash for Pepe Marti.
The Andretti driver profited from a safety car on lap 23 for a clash between Edoardo Mortara and Lucas di Grassi, where the majority of his rivals were unable to use their recently-activated energy boost from their second attack modes. By contrast, the 2022-23 Formula E champion was able to take his second attack mode at the restart and powered into the lead at the end of lap 27.
Dennis looked nailed on to take his first Formula E win since the first Diriyah E-Prix in 2024, but the race was red-flagged on lap 28 when rookie Marti misjudged a full-course yellow call – caused by Mitch Evans colliding with a wall – and hit the back of both Antonio Felix da Costa’s Jaguar and Nico Mueller’s Porsche. The clash sent the Cupra Kiro driver airborne and into a roll but, miraculously, the Spanish driver was able to hop out of his car unharmed.
After a lengthy red flag to clear up the debris, it set up a one-lap sprint to the finish of the 30-lap contest – extra laps not permitted given the first safety car came out too late to extend the race.
Dennis held his nerve to retain the lead and win by 1.349s from reigning champion Oliver Rowland, who charged from 13th on the grid to second place for Nissan.
In a relatively tame final lap, Nick Cassidy held on to third to secure Citroen a podium on its Formula E debut, with Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein taking fourth place.
Edoardo Mortara, Mahindra Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Felipe Drugovich, who also benefitted from the late safety car to have an attack mode in the closing stages before the red flag, took a solid fifth place on his debut for the US squad.
Mueller’s Porsche somehow survived Marti’s rear-end assault to take seventh place, ahead of DS Penske’s Maximilian Guenther, with Envision pair Joel Eriksson eighth and Sebastien Buemi ninth.
Nyck de Vries completed the points-paying positions for Mahindra in 10th, despite hitting both team-mate Mortara and Cupra Kiro’s Dan Ticktum in the first corner and dropping to the back of the field.
Formula E Sao Paulo E-Prix results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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