Michael Andretti may be having challenges getting a team, with Cadillac as partner, into Formula 1, but where Formula E is concerned, the Andretti team was readily accepted and has remained a consistent participant since the first season. And this year, as the Avalanche Andretti Formula E team, it has taken the first victory of the new Season 9 in Mexico City this weekend.
Driver Jake Dennis had a dominant drive to win the Hankook Mexico City E-Prix ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team driver Pascal Wehrlein who started from sixth to finish second, and Mahindra Racing’s Lucas di Grassi who slipped from pole position during the race to finish third.
Season 9 of the all-electric single-seater championship also sees totally new racing cars designed and optimised specifically for street racing. Designated GEN3, these are the world’s fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient electric racing cars designated GEN3. Developed by engineers and sustainability experts at the FIA and Formula E, the GEN3 cars are intended to show the world that high performance and sustainability can co-exist without compromise. At the same time, cutting-edge technologies (especially for electric vehicles), that are developed for the racing cars will eventually transfer to road-going production models.
The race started off with di Grassi getting into the lead early as he had pole position, As the field filtered through the first few turns, Robin Frijns’ ABT CUPRA was one that didn’t make it. He ran into the back of Norman Nato’s Nissan at Turn 9, bringing out the Porsche Taycan Safety Car. The collision was severe enough that the Dutch driver broke his wrist, while Nato had also to retire.
Racing resumed on lap 6 of the 36-lap race restart, and the order that had been set while under the Safety Car di Grassi, Dennis, Hughes, Lotterer, Ticktum, Wehrlein, Fenestraz, Buemi, da Costa and Evans in the top 10. Sam Bird (Jaguar TCS Racing) had earlier said he didn’t think anything else could possibly go wrong in Mexico but on Lap 7, his car came to a halt with another technical issue.
ATTACK MODE this year is even more strategic with 350 kW available for 4 minutes in 2 intervals. The drivers and strategists can decide to split it across 2 activations lasting 2 minutes, a 1+3 minute activation, or a 3+1 minute burst.
Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy and Cassidy and reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne of DS PENSKE were first to jump for their initial boost. The latter went for 3+1 minute split as he sought to recover from a disappointing qualifying session. With instant progress, he leapt past Cassidy into 13th place.
By lap 10, di Grassi was leading Dennis by half-a-second, and three Porsche-powered cars in the top five as the Avalanche Andretti team is using the same power unit as the Porsche team. But things changed just 2 laps later as Dennis caught the Mahindra driver by surprise on Turn 3. NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes tried to follow through as well but the Brazilian must have woken up and closed the door, so to speak.
Having grabbed the lead, Dennis started to open up the gap to di Grassi with a Fastest Lap. Through that first round of ATTACK MODE, he pulled out some 4 seconds on the rest by the halfway point in the race.
However, on lap 19, the Safety Car was called out again when Edo Mortara’s Maserati MSG Racing Tipo Folgore pirouetted backwards into the Turn 1 wall. Not a good start for the Italian team and also four pointless races in five for Mortara. It would be 3 laps before racing could resume and when it did, the order was Dennis, di Grassi, Hughes and Wehrlein.
The second round of ATTACK MODE boosts saw Wehrlein and Lotterer jump from fourth and fifth as they set about closing on the lead quartet. Di Grassi and Hughes followed a lap later but the McLaren driver couldn’t hold the Porsche off, with Wehrlein holding on to the podium place. On lap 29, Wehrlein managed to get ahead of di Grassi into the chicane. The Mahindra appeared more marginal on energy and was unable to put up a fight so it became a Porsche powertrain 1-2 at that point.
Another 5 laps were added on for time lost under the Safety Car, and while the two leaders were comfortable, di Grassi was left clinging to third under pressure from Hughes. The battle for third, fourth and fifth between di Grassi, Hughes and Lotterer was in full force in the remaining laps. By the fourth added laps, Buemi (Envision Racing) was fairly secure in sixth and da Costa in seventh. Lotterer did pull a surprise, though, pinching fourth from Hughes and at the hairpin on the last lap.
“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 5 seconds,” said Avalanche Andretti’s Dennis.
The next location is in the Middle East, with two rounds – both at night – to be run in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia on January 27/28. Formula E broke new ground when it worked closely with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Sport to have the event’s first night races at the opening of Season 7 in 2021. The fast and flowing 21-turn 2.49-km circuit, flanking the At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site, will once again be lit up by the latest low-power LED technology. These reduce energy consumption by up to 50% compared to non-LED units, and are powered by sustainably-sourced biofuel generators.
