FE Mexico E-prix: Dennis secures first win of 2023
14th January 2023Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis secured the first win of the 2023 Formula E championship after a dominating performance in the Mexico City E-Prix.
How the race unfolded…
It was a good start from the front row as Mahindra Racing’s Lucas Di Grassi remained in front of the field ahead of Dennis into turn one. However, on the launch McLaren’s Jake Hughes nearly snuck up into P2 but the Briton backed out into the first turn.
After the first lap the top five remained unchanged with Di Grassi out in front ahead of; Dennis, Hughes, Andre Lotterer (Avalanche Andretti) and Dan Ticktum (NIO 333).
However, the safety car was quickly deployed after the first lap had been completed. This came after ABT’s Robijn Frijns caught the rear end of Nissan’s Norman Nato into the turn eight chicane. As the pack filtered through the chicane, Nato’s sudden deceleration caught out Frijns which caused the ABT driver to suffer terminal damage.
Nato soon retired from the race after the contact.
At the end of lap five, the safety car finally peeled back into the pit lane to get the race back underway. But, the race was quickly neutralised, once again, after Jaguar’s Sam Bird pulled over to the side of the circuit on the exit of the first corner.
The race was finally back under green flag conditions on lap 10. At the restart, both Envision’s Nick Cassidy and DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne both activated Attack Mode. However, Cassidy’s strategy opted for a one minute burst while Vandoorne’s strategy delivered a three-minute boost.
On the 12th lap, Dennis finally found a way passed Di Grassi to take the lead of the race. Ticktum was issued with a drive-through penalty, a lap later, for ‘overpower.’ Once the British driver served his penalty, he found himself at the bottom of the order.
On lap 18, the 2022 championship contender, Maserati’s Edoardo Mortara was the next in line to retire from the race. As he battled for 14th, the Swiss spun out on his own at the first corner after he carried too much speed into the corner and went into the barrier backwards. The safety car was quickly redeployed as a result.
Due to the stranded Maserati Gen3, the safety car – and following pack – were instructed to drive through the pit lane. At the end of lap 20, the session went back to green-flag conditions – led by Dennis, ahead of Di Grassi and Hughes.
Despite a P6 start, Tag Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein crept up to fourth place and found himself in a fight for the final podium position against Hughes. Lotterer and Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) dropped down to fifth and sixth respectively.
On lap 25, Wehrlein and Lotterer peeled off the racing line to activate the remainder of their attack mode. A lap later, Di Grassi and Hughes activated their final allowance of attack mode. As the duo peeled back onto the racing line, it allowed the trailing Porsche driver to slip up into P3.
As the race entered its dying laps, Di Grassi did little to defend his second place from Wehrlein who dove down the inside at the turn eight chicane.
After a number of safety car interventions, across the race, race control added five laps onto the end of the 36-lap race.
Before the race came to an end, as the remaining drivers raced to complete the remaining laps, McLaren’s Rene Rast became the Mexico City E-Prix final retirement as the German driver parked his Gen3 into a safe space. As a result, only yellow flags were required.
Podium:
- Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti
- Pascal Wehrlein, Tag Heuer Porsche
- Lucas Di Grassi, Mahindra Racing
That’s it for the article: FE Mexico E-prix: Dennis secures first win of 2023!
What do you think of the first race of the season? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula E here:
- NIO 333 take the covers off their Gen3 racer
- ABT Sportsline reveal Gen3 car as they return to Formula E
- Avalanche Andretti reveal Gen3 challenger
- Portland completes Formula E Season 9 Calendar
- Maserati MSG Racing unveil Gen3 Tipo Folgore
- DS Penske Launches 2023 challenger
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
