Formula E Season 9 kicked off at the Mexico City E-Prix, where Jake Dennis (Andretti) scored his first victory in the Gen3 era with a dominant performance. Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) finished second, with pole-sitter Lucas di Grassi (Mavindra) finishing on the podium.
Development of disturbance from the first lap. Robin Frijns (Apt) crashes into the rear of Norman Nato (Nissan), Frijns damaging the suspension in the process and breaking his wrist. Nato was also forced to retire.
A safety car was introduced due to this accident, and the team was already influencing their energy strategy for the rest of the race.
After a brief resumption of action on lap 6, Sam Bird (Jaguar) retired due to a mechanical failure when exiting Peraltada in turn two.
Lucas di Grassi opted for an early Safety Car restart on both occasions, allowing him to fend off threats from the drivers behind him. However, Jake Dennis took the lead from Di Grassi, who made a hairpin mistake on lap 12.
NIO 333 was heartbroken and Daniel Ticktum dropped to the back of the grid after receiving a drive-through penalty for over-consumption due to the car’s power spike.
Andretti opted for attack mode early on, hoping to create a gap to Di Grassi behind him. However, Edoardo Mortara hit the wall and the safety car was deployed, closing the gap of more than three seconds that Jake Dennis had built in front.
Jake Dennis successfully navigated through the Safety Car restart and tried to regain the gap he had built up before the retirement of Elualdo Mortara.
Pascal Wehrlein uses an attack mode strategy that differs from the others around him, taking advantage of enemies going through activation loops and using extra power to complete an overtake.
At the back of the field Daniel Ticktum’s race went from bad to worse and he was handed a 10 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Last year’s race winner, Pascal Wehrlein, found himself ahead of Lucas di Grassi, struggling to keep up with those around him and using too much energy along the way.
Jake Dennis continued to lead the way, while Sebastien Buemi (Envision) and Antonio Felix da Costa (Porsche) entered the race, intensifying the battle for the final two podiums.
Five more laps were added at the end of the race for a safety car period as Jake Dennis tried to get Andretti’s car comfortable and take his first win of the Gen3 era.
Lucas di Grassi backed up the pack behind him to recoup some of the wasted energy and those behind him struggled at every turn.
On the extra lap, McLaren’s Rene Rast collided with Mahindra’s Oliver Rowland, and the section was yellow flagged.
Jake Dennis built a gap of seven seconds on the final lap. Behind them the drama continued, with Pascal Wehrlein in second place and Lucas di Grassi dropping to third as he was attacked by rookie Jake Hughes. Hughes was passed by Andre Lotterer in the final minutes of the race.
In the clean air front and back, Jake Dennis also set the fastest lap of the race, earning extra points along the way. Dennis is leading the championship in Formula E for the first time in his career.
Formula E 2023 Mexico City E-Prix Final Results
1. Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti)
2. Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche)
3. Lucas Di Grassi (Mahindra Racing)
Four. André Lotterer (Avalanche Andretti)
Five. Jake Hughes (NEOM McLaren)
6. Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing)
7. Antonio da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche)
8. Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing)
9. Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing)
Ten. Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske)
11. Maximilian Gunther (Maserati MSG Racing)
12. Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske)
13. Oliver Rowland (Mahindra Racing)
14. Nico Muller (ABT CUPRA)
15. Sasha Fenestraz (Nissan)
16. Sergio Sette Camara (NIO 333 Racing)
17. Daniel Ticktum (NIO 333 Racing)
DNF. Rene Last (NEOM McLaren)
DNF. Sam Bird (Jaguar TCS Racing)
DNF. Edoardo Mortara (Maserati MSG Racing)
DNF. Norman Nato (Nissan)
DNF. Robin Frijns (ABT CUPRA)
The moment our GEN3 cars made their race debut #MexicoCityEPrix pic.twitter.com/Jyh42SV6p1
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) January 14, 2023
