Dennis crowned champion as title rival Cassidy collides with team mate

Formula E

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Jake Dennis secured the 2023 Formula E world championship title with a race to spare in London after a frantic race won by Mitch Evans.

The Andretti driver survived a chaotic race filled with multiple Safety Cars and interrupted twice by red flag stoppages to finish in second place. That was enough to clinch his first Formula E title after Nick Cassidy retired following contact from his team mate Sebastien Buemi, who finished third.

Evans, who was third in the championship heading into the race, won the qualifying duels but lost pole position due to a five-place grid penalty as a result of the crash with Nick Cassidy and Jake Dennis. That, ironically, promoted Cassidy to pole position with Dennis alongside him on the front row.

At the start, Cassidy held the lead while Buemi jumped the Andretti driver around the outside of the first corner to take second place. Evans remained in sixth but quickly dispatched Dan Ticktum on the second lap to move up to fifth.

Cassidy was the first of the leaders to take Attack Mode on lap five, with Buemi slowing to allow Cassidy to rejoin in the lead. Evans passed Rene Rast for fourth place and eventually muscled by Dennis to take third place.

Cassidy led the early laps before contact with team mate Buemi
Cassidy took his second Attack Mode on lap seven, with Buemi taking the lead and Cassidy dropping to third behind Evans. Dennis attempted to take Attack Mode for the first time on lap eight, but was denied the power boost after missing the loop at turn 16.

Evans took the lead on lap nine, with the championship rivals eventually sitting next each other. There was minor contact between the pair, with Dennis eventually dropping down to fifth place with Cassidy right behind his team mate.

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Remarkably, Buemi appeared unaware that his team mate was attempting to get by him at turn four and the two Envisions made contact, with Cassidy suffering front wing damage that left him crawling back to the pits for a new nose and dropping to the back. The Safety Car was deployed due to the debris littering the circuit.

Evans would hold on to win the race
The race restarted on lap 19, with Evans leading Buemi, Rast, Pascal Wehrlein and Dennis in fifth place. Dennis continued to have difficulties activating Attack Mode, eventually taking his first six minute period on lap 22, dropping to fifth place. He gained that position back over Wehrlein when the Porsche failed to activate Attack Mode correctly. Meanwhile, the damage suffered by Cassidy was too much for him to continue and he retired, giving Dennis the opportunity to clinch the title.

Evans continued to lead but Buemi in second held far more useable energy than the leader. However, the Safety Car was deployed for a second time after a frightening accident for Sacha Fenestraz who ran over the back of Sergio Sette Camara and speared into the TecPro barrier at turn 16.

After a couple of laps behind the Safety Car, the race was suspended with a red flag to allow for repairs to the barrier. Following a lengthy delay the race restarted on lap 33 with four laps remaining, Evans leading from Buemi and Antonio Felix da Costa. Dennis, fourth, needed to gain only one place to win the championship.

Evans and Buemi both took their final Attack Mode periods on the first green flag lap, but while Evans held onto his lead, Buemi fell behind Dennis to fourth, elevating him into a championship-winning position. However, there was a major pile-up at the entrance to the arena when Buemi and Norman Nato collided and blocked the track, leaving the rest of the field behind them gridlocked.

It is Dennis and Andretti’s first Formula E championship
The race was red-flagged for a second time with another lengthy delay. Eventually, the race restarted for a final time for a three-lap sprint, with Evans again leading Da Costa and Dennis in third. However, there were no changes of positions over the final laps and Dennis crossed the line in third to clinch the world championship with a round to spare.

Evans’ win means his second place in the championship is confirmed. Da Costa crossed the line second but was handed a three-minute time penalty for a technical infraction, demoting him to the rear of the field. With Dennis taking second, that promoted Buemi onto the final podium position in third.

Nato finished fourth ahead of Sam Bird fifth and Sette Camara sixth. Edoardo Mortara finished seventh ahead of Lucas di Grassi in eighth, Ticktum ninth and Rast taking the final point in tenth.

Formula E London Eprix Round 15 race results

1 9 Mitch Evans Jaguar Jaguar I-Type 6
2 27 Jake Dennis Andretti Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
3 16 Sebastien Buemi Envision Jaguar I-Type 6
4 17 Norman Nato Nissan Nissan e-4ORCE 04
5 10 Sam Bird Jaguar Jaguar I-Type 6
6 3 Sergio Sette Camara NIO 333 NIO 333 ER9
7 48 Edoardo Mortara Maserati Maserati Tipo Folgore
8 11 Lucas di Grassi Mahindra Mahindra M9Electro
9 33 Dan Ticktum NIO 333 NIO 333 ER9
10 58 Rene Rast McLaren Nissan e-4ORCE 04
11 94 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
12 5 Jake Hughes McLaren Nissan e-4ORCE 04
13 1 Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske DS E-TENSE FE23
14 7 Maximilian Guenther Maserati Maserati Tipo Folgore
15 36 Andre Lotterer Andretti Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
16 8 Oliver Rowland Mahindra Mahindra M9Electro
17 13 Antonio Felix da Costa Porsche Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
18 23 Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Nissan e-4ORCE 04
19 37 Nick Cassidy Envision Jaguar I-Type 6
20 51 Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Mahindra M9Electro
21 25 Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske DS E-TENSE FE23
22 4 Robin Frijns Abt Cupra Mahindra M9Electro

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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4 comments on “Dennis crowned champion as title rival Cassidy collides with team mate”

  1. I cannot even remotely comprehend what Envision were doing there… Cassidy had a genuine shot at closing the gap to Jake with how the race was unfolding at the time, and the team managed it SO POORLY.

    Doesn’t take away from Jake, though. Great consistency and solid driver!
    With the number of Brits on the grid, it’s good to finally see a British champion crowned.

    Makes you wonder how much closer Mitch could have been this year had his teammate not ploughed into him a few times over the year…

    1. The management from Envision and the driving from Buemi was some of the dumbest I’ve ever seen. Why the team didn’t tell him to get out the way, and why Buemi was defending so hard against his teammate fighting for a championship, I have no idea. It’s dumb to take out your teammate any time, but in these circumstances doubly so.

  2. Can’t imagine a way to screw it up any harder than what Envision did today. Simply mind boggling.

  3. Buemi should be fired on the spot for the crazy hard defence on Cassidy.
    And what were they thinking at Envision, just tell Buemi to get out of the way and switch positions, no?

    Anyway, Dennis had a monster of a season, a deserving champ

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