Dennis praises team after win in Mexico City

Jake Dennis was quick to praise his engineers, following his win in the opening race of the Formula E season in Mexico City.

The British driver had made it through the semi-finals in qualifying, but a couple of mistakes in the final meant he started second on the grid.

Nevertheless, Dennis was effusive in his praise for his team, saying, “My team and I have such a good relationship together. We just work so well.

“It didn’t look like it was happening in qualifying, we turned it round, made some small adjustments for the race and absolutely nailed it. Big kudos to my guys, this is a small repayment to them and hope to have more success because Saudi isn’t that far away.”

Dennis also noted the challenges presented by the new cars.

With less weight, less downforce and more power, the cars looked like a handful to drive as the drivers all tried to find where the limits were during practice.

“It was such a physical race. These cars are so hard to drive physically and with the lower grip as well, it makes everything more challenging. But it’s even more rewarding, especially when you win by five seconds.

“Time for some tequila with the team, an incredible race.”

While it might have been Dennis standing on the top step of the podium for Andretti following the opening race of the season, and the Gen 3 era in Mexico City, it didn’t dampen the celebrations amongst the senior management at Porsche.

Porsche’s mentality, as has already been shown in sportscar racing in particular is that a victory for a customer team, counts as a victory for the manufacturer, and Thomas Laudenbach, the vice president of Porsche Motorsport shared this ethos.

Whilst Laudenbach was understandably pleased with the success for Porsche, he was also realistic about the fact that there is still a long way to go this season.

He said, “What a tremendous start to the season. A one-two victory and four Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 in the top seven – that’s an outstanding result.

“We’ve shown that we can deliver. Now it’s about maintaining this level for as long as we can over the rest of the season.

“We’re delighted with this great performance. It can continue like this.”

Lucas di Grassi had started the race on pole position, and despite losing a couple of positions during the race, was still pleased to have finished the race on the podium.

However, he was realistic, and said, “What happened today was like a Mexican miracle. To be on pole and to be on the podium and going home with 18 points after a tough beginning to the season is a testimony to the hard work the team are putting in to make the car the best we can.

“I gave it my all today to try and make the team proud. I’m very happy to leave here with this result, it feels like a victory to us. But this is just the beginning. We need more consistent results and we have got to work hard for this.”