Reigning World Champion Jake Dennis cruised to a simply brilliant victory at the Diriyah E-Prix, as he timed his Attack Modes to perfection to win by 13 seconds.
It was a phenomenal drive from third on the grid for the Andretti Formula E driver, whilst all the action unfolded behind him. Jean-Éric Vergne converted pole into second after defending like a lion against Mitch Evans. Evans attempted a late move on Vergne which went horribly wrong, leaving him to finish in fifth. Nick Cassidy completed the podium.
Fourth went to Sam Bird after a superb drive, whilst Norman Nato finished sixth. Seventh went to Maximilian Günther at the Diriyah Street Circuit, whilst Mexico City winner Pascal Wehrlein finished eighth. Sérgio Sette Câmara scored ERT Formula E Team’s first points of 2024 in P9, with Robin Frijns completing the top 10.
How the race unfolded
Vergne started on pole ahead of Evans, with Dennis and qualifying’s superstar Sette Câmara on the second row. All the drivers predicted ahead of the race that overtaking would be impossible, but would that be the case?
As the lights went out, it was Vergne who made an excellent start, as did Sette Câmara. The Brazilian tried diving up the inside of Evans at the opening corner, only for the Kiwi to defend the position well. Evans’ strong defence allowed Dennis to reclaim third, leaving Sette Câmara to settle into fourth.
Elsewhere, Wehrlein made a poor start from sixth and tumbled to ninth, whilst Cassidy went in the other direction from 11th to seventh. Sam Bird was another who made a stellar start, as the most successful Formula E driver in Diriyah went from ninth to sixth. At the back, it was misery for Sacha Fenestraz, who retired with suspension damage.
In the lead for the opening laps remained Vergne, who activated his Attack Mode on the third lap and dropped to third. This promoted Evans into the lead, with the Jaguar driver having pushed like hell for a lap. His plan was to build a gap to Dennis and Vergne behind so that he could activate his first Attack Mode, a plan which almost worked.
Evans activated his Attack Mode on Lap 5 and almost came out ahead of Vergne; however, the two-time Formula E Champion forced him into the wall. Vergne, as a result of some questionable driving, moved back ahead of the Jaguar driver.
Vergne’s and Evans’ shenanigans worked beautifully in Dennis’ favour though, as it allowed him to build a gap in the lead. The Andretti driver managed to activate both of his Attack Modes back-to-back and stay in the lead. It meant that by Lap 11, Dennis led from Vergne and Evans, with all three having used both Attack Modes.
Behind them, Nato sat in fourth and seemingly had worse pace than those behind him. Nato had a lengthy train behind him, holding up Bird and Cassidy in particular, who had two per cent more energy than everyone else in sixth and seventh.
Back at the front, and Evans pulled off a brilliant move on Vergne for second. The Jaguar driver dived down the inside of Vergne at Turn 18 to move into second on Lap 13. Evans had unbelievable pace, as a lap later he was right on the rear of Dennis. He tried to replicate what he did on Vergne, but ran too deep into Turn 18, handing Dennis the lead back.
Evans’ error allowed Dennis to build a strong two-second lead, which quickly extended to two and a half seconds on Lap 17, as Evans went deep into Turn 18 again. This allowed Vergne back into second and let Nato get onto the rear of Evans. It became clear that Evans had used lots of energy trying to close Dennis prior to his mistake.
When Vergne got back into second, he built a gap to Evans in rapid fashion, whilst the Jaguar driver remained with Nato and the rest of the train, which went back all the way to Stoffel Vandoorne in 16th. By Lap 22, a three-second gap had formed between Vergne and Evans, with the latter having been struggling for grip whilst he also had a radio problem.
Dennis remained comfortably in control of the race and sat two seconds ahead of Vergne. Behind the top three, Nato sat close to Evans in fourth but had yet to use either Attack Mode. The Frenchman finally activated his first Attack Mode on Lap 24, which promoted Cassidy into fourth, as several other drivers also activated their Attack Mode.
The issue for Cassidy, though, is that he was yet to activate either of his Attack Modes. To help the Kiwi, Jaguar ordered Evans to let him into third, so that he could hold the pack behind up. With 10 laps remaining, Dennis continued to lead with ease, ahead of Vergne, Cassidy, Evans, Nato, Günther, Sette Câmara, Wehrlein and Hughes.
On Lap 28, Cassidy dropped back into fourth as he activated his first Attack Mode; however, Evans once again gave him the position so that Cassidy could build a gap big enough to Nato in fifth, so that he could take his second Attack Mode and drop no further than fourth. Behind the two Jaguars, Bird was closing in rapid fashion.
Behind the top five, Nato sat in a relaxed fifth, as Sette Câmara, behind in sixth, was severely struggling with his energy management, resulting in several drivers being held up. Cassidy finally used his second Attack Mode on Lap 32, demoting him back to fourth, just ahead of Bird in fifth.
In the lead, Dennis was managing the race sublimely, with his gap having built to a staggering six seconds on Lap 34/37. To highlight how comfortable he was, he set the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages. All eyes were on the huge fight behind Dennis, as Evans was right behind a struggling Vergne. Vergne was really low on energy compared to those around him.
The fight for second went down to the final lap, with a five-car train having formed behind Vergne. The DS Penske driver was doing all he could to defend P2, but Evans still attempted a huge dive down the inside at Turn 18 once again. Evans was all out of shape in what was a do-or-die attempt and ran wide yet again.
It allowed Cassidy to steal third place and promoted Bird into fourth, as Evans rejoined the circuit in fifth. Whilst all the drama unfolded, Dennis cruised across the finish line to win his first race of Season 10 by a ridiculous 13 seconds. Vergne somehow kept second with Cassidy completing the podium. As well as the win, Dennis also claimed the fastest lap, awarding him a total of 26 points. Vergne claimed 21 courtesy of P2 and pole position.
Following the first race of the Diriyah double-header, Wehrlein remains in the championship lead on 32 points; however, Cassidy is just one-point behind in second. Vergne sits in third on 29 points, ahead of Dennis in fourth on 28. Evans is fifth on 20 points.
