Dennis singles out Jaguar as Porsche's biggest Formula E threat
Jake Dennis says Porsche cannot let off its development of its Gen3 Formula E powertrain, and singled out Jaguar as a threat to the German manufacturer in the coming rounds.
Porsche powertrains have finished first and second in all three races of the 2022-23 season so far, with Andretti's Dennis winning the Mexico opener from Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein.
Wehrlein then won both Diriyah races from Dennis to take the championship lead heading into Formula E's first visit to Hyderabad.
Reflecting on his brace of second places at Diriyah, Dennis said that he was "happy with second, a little bit disappointed not to win, but we'll take the points because it's not always going to be this easy".
Asked if Porsche and Andretti would change its working relationship if the two teams are drawn into a championship battle, Dennis underlined the need to remain united, particularly as Jaguar showed strong pace and efficiency in Saudi Arabia.
"Maybe when we come to London [things will change], but right now we just need to work together like we are and develop the powertrain and all the systems as quickly as possible," said Dennis.
"The Jaguar was probably the most efficient powertrain today with [Sam] Bird, you know, he was behind most of the race and all of a sudden he got 2% more than me.
"So they're no slouch, and if they get on top of that, their actual car is very quick round the corners.
"I think when we come to India they're going to close the gap, especially when we go to Europe when there's a decent sized break and people can really take advantage of that and develop as much as possible."
Jake Dennis, Andretti Autosport, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3, Sam Bird, Jaguar Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Speaking about Porsche's performance in the first two rounds, Dennis feels that the Weissach firm has shown its pace across two very different circuits, and that it should set the tone for the season.
The upcoming new circuits in Hyderabad, Cape Town and Sao Paulo remain unknowns, but Dennis says the pace shown at Diriyah fills in some of the doubts left by Mexico's opener having expected to drop back.
"Both places now we've shown that we have pace, and on a proper street circuit here [we've had] fast pace, and in Mexico where it's the Porsche ground where they always dominate," Dennis added.
"So it's nice that we were fast [in Saudi]. I was expecting to maybe drop back a little bit, but we've still got that pace over the others at the moment.
"Obviously a new circuit for everyone [coming up], the next three circuits are completely new. So that's going to be exciting, really cool locations to race at.
"It's an exciting time for everyone and it's going to be great when the whole field close up, because they certainly will."
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