How Dennis navigated Formula E finale chaos to be crowned champion at home

If Formula E wanted a blockbuster film made about the championship in a similar fashion to what is taking place with Formula 1, it would not have to look beyond the season-ending London E-Prix double-header for the perfect narrative. Championship protagonists starting together on the front row, the favourite of which was racing in front of his home crowd, while the other would dramatically collide with his team-mate.

Add in an outsider for the championship taking victory to put the destination of the title on a knife-edge, sprinkle in a few red flags to heighten the drama before the home hero proves triumphant and you have the perfect script. In fact, the only thing missing was that all this took place during the penultimate round of the season rather than the very last race.

But that suited Jake Dennis just fine. The Briton claimed a title that, on paper, he seemed destined to clinch heading into his home event at the ExCeL London, but which never seemed certain until the final moments.

A 24-point buffer to Nick Cassidy meant Dennis only needed to outscore the Envision Racing driver by six points to clinch the crown at the first time of asking, and he duly put himself exactly where he needed to be on the grid, lining up alongside Cassidy at the front. But as soon as the race began on the ExCeL’s unique indoor/outdoor layout, the balance of the championship began to swing away from the Andretti Autosport driver, in a race he described as “caving in against me”.

While Cassidy got the perfect launch, his team-mate Sebastien Buemi managed to draw alongside Dennis into Turn 1 and, after running side-by-side through the opening corners, he moved ahead. With Buemi essentially acting as a rear-gunner, the Envision masterplan worked to perfection for the opening seven laps as the 2015-16 Formula E champion, who had intentionally run wide in his qualifying duel against Cassidy to ensure his team-mate reached the final, began to back the pack up.

It meant that Cassidy was able to activate both of his Attack Modes and rejoin in the lead each time, the win seemingly in the bag even at that early stage. In contrast, Dennis was beginning to slip back in the pack, first being demoted to fourth by Mitch Evans, before missing his first Attack Mode activation, which also dropped him briefly to fifth.

Dennis came under fire from both Envisions at the start of the London opener

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

But things had begun to unravel for Cassidy at the head of the field, the Kiwi having decided to let his team-mate ahead into Turn 16 in an attempt to let Buemi activate his own Attack Modes and still remain second once he took them.

But the brief loss of momentum allowed Evans to sneak ahead into Turn 17, and the two title protagonists were now running nose-to-tail. Sensing an opportunity to get into the mix, Dennis launched himself to the outside of Cassidy into the penultimate corner, which gave him the inside – albeit on a tight line – for the final left-hander. The loss of momentum for both championship challengers allowed McLaren’s Rene Rast to move ahead down the start/finish straight as Cassidy shadowed Dennis over the following two laps.

The pair soon ran side-by-side again, though this time with Cassidy taking the outside line into Turn 1. Although the pair banged wheels on the exit of Turn 2, Cassidy moved back into fourth. Buemi was now directly ahead but any strategic cohesion between the Envision drivers from earlier in the race had gone, with Buemi defending into Turn 1 and suggesting after the race he’d had no instruction from his team on whether to let Cassidy ahead.

“I asked where do I need to finish because I knew Nick was out, and they said third and I was really thrown off by that because I thought I just needed six points” Jake Dennis

It proved pivotal, as Cassidy went to repeat the same move he had pulled on Dennis in the opening corners, only this time Buemi moved in front of his team-mate into the Turn 4 right-hander. The slightest of contact damaged Cassidy’s front wing, which just moments later became lodged under his car. A trip to the pits all but signalled the end of his title challenge. With his main rival out of the running, Dennis seemed on course for the crown but up stepped Evans.

The Jaguar driver had entered the event 44 points adrift of Dennis, and with only 58 available over the weekend needed something of a miracle to even stand a chance. But he had already made inroads into that gap in qualifying, taking pole from fellow Kiwi Cassidy and, crucially, claiming the three points that went with setting the fastest time. But the Jaguar driver started sixth due to a five-place grid penalty from the previous round in Rome, his legacy for colliding with Cassidy which meant neither had scored any points.

At the time of the Envision collision, though, Evans had managed to move into the lead, and led the field following a brief safety car to retrieve the remains of Cassidy’s front wing. Despite constant pressure throughout the remainder of the race, he never ceded the lead, which meant Dennis was required to finish third to guarantee the title before the final race.

“I asked where do I need to finish because I knew Nick was out, and they said third and I was really thrown off by that because I thought I just needed six points,” said Dennis.

Buemi gave Cassidy some friendly fire to trigger his drop from the title race

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

It seemed like a tall order after half distance in what transpired to be a 37-lap race, as the Briton was only sixth and yet to take either of his Attack Mode activations, having missed it again at the second time of asking.

His composure was pushed to the limits on the radio, as he called for Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein to not battle him, with Andretti being a Porsche customer team. Wehrlein had entered the final weekend with a mathematical chance of still winning the championship, and the pair battled side-by-side through the opening bends at one point – prompting team owner Michael Andretti to march down to the Porsche garage mid-race.

But luck began to smile on Dennis, as Wehrlein was biffed into the Turn 1 barrier by Rast having tried to overtake the McLaren driver around the outside. This elevated Dennis back into fifth just before a red flag was deployed on lap 32 after a heavy accident for Sacha Fenestraz. The Nissan driver had hit the rear of Sergio Sette Camara into the braking zone for Turn 16, becoming airborne briefly before impacting heavily against the barrier in the run-off area.

With Fenestraz uninjured but repairs needed to the barrier after it was noticeably moved backwards, the red flag was deployed. During this time, Dennis was promoted another position as Rast needed to have his front wing replaced after it was damaged in his collision with Wehrlein, putting him to the back of the pack.

It put Dennis directly behind Antonio Felix da Costa, Buemi and Evans into fourth, but the leading pair still had one Attack Mode activation to take, which they did at the first time of asking on the rolling restart. While Evans was able to resume in the lead, Buemi crucially dropped behind Dennis into fourth. The Envision driver also had six minutes of extra power to use over the remaining five laps, which prompted him to back the pack up in an effort to extend his overall race time.

Inevitably, things came to a head at the penultimate corner when Nissan’s Norman Nato looked to the inside of Buemi, the pair colliding at Turn 19. The closely following Sam Bird was unable to avoid the collision ahead, all three cars coming to a stop and blocking the track for almost the entire field behind.

The blockage prompted a second red flag, with only Evans, da Costa and Dennis not held up in the incident. This set up a three-lap dash to the flag. With no need to save energy, the remaining laps were a flat-out affair, the order remaining unchanged, as Dennis finished third on the road, good enough for the title.

Red flags for crashes and heavy rain stalled proceedings throughout the London E-Prix double-header

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“I think nobody expected that race, multiple safety cars, red flags, crashes left, right and centre, and I felt like everything was just thrown at me,” said Dennis, who was promoted to second after Porsche’s da Costa was handed a penalty.

“It was just a relief of emotions, something I’ve never experienced ever in my life and to become world champion is something which we all dream of.”

With the drivers’ title decided, attention switched to the teams’ championship on Sunday as Envision and Jaguar entered the season-finale tied on points. Cassidy, who had eventually retired from Saturday’s race following contact with Maserati’s Edoardo Mortara after changing his front wing, gave Envision the edge in qualifying after beating Evans to pole and the three points by just 0.010 seconds.

“I don’t know why but I just felt so comfortable, we had so much pace I could play with the race, which in this category is an unreal feeling” Nick Cassidy

In a repeat of the previous day’s proceedings, though, there were two stoppages for the 16th and final race of the season, although this time due to heavy rain that had caused large amounts of water to gather around the outdoor sections of the track. Seven laps were completed behind the safety car across two periods before the red flag was shown each time with visibility too low and standing water too much.

At the third time of asking and nearly an hour and 20 minutes after the race officially started, green flag running finally got under way with a rolling start as Cassidy proceeded to put in a masterful performance in the treacherous conditions. He was never headed in a lights-to-flag virtuoso performance, with only Evans able to keep within touching distance over the 38-lap race as the gap fluctuated around the 2.5s mark, before Cassidy stretched the gap to nearly 5s at the flag.

“I don’t know why but I just felt so comfortable, we had so much pace I could play with the race, which in this category is an unreal feeling because you don’t get those chances often,” said Cassidy, whose win also ensured him of second in the drivers’ standings over Evans.

After missing out on the drivers' title, Cassidy had to make do with victory on Sunday and sealing the teams' title for Envision

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Behind, newly crowned champion Dennis had quickly moved into third after starting fourth but was unable to keep pace with the Jaguar powertrain drivers ahead, finishing more than 16s behind Cassidy, as Nato and DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne claimed fourth and fifth respectively after lonely races.

Buemi, who had finished third the previous day, demoted Bird for sixth into Turn 1 in the latter stages of his last race for Jaguar, guaranteeing Envision the teams’ title by 12 points, as Nico Muller (Abt Cupra), Dan Ticktum (NIO 333) and Wehrlein completed the top 10.

Remarkably, given the treacherous conditions, there was not a single yellow flag once green flag running got underway on lap eight as all 22 drivers finished the final race of an incredible and unpredictable season.

Can Dennis defend his Formula E world title in 2024?

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images