How To Tackle Your First World Championship Race In Over 10 Years

It was the Thursday before the London ePrix, the 2023 Formula E season finale, and championship leader Jake Dennis didn’t seem terribly perturbed. He’d brought his dog, Billy, to explore the paddock, and he’d just completed an interview with the broadcast team before he joined me on the pit wall in front of Avalanche Andretti’s garage. According to Dennis, this weekend would be like any other — even though he’d be chasing down his first championship in 13 years.

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(Full disclosure: Formula E invited me to London for the 2023 season finale double header. It also arranged interview for me, including this one with Jake Dennis.)

“It could change Saturday morning, but I’m pretty relaxed at the moment,” Dennis told me. After all, his season had gone well to that point: despite only securing two race wins — one in Mexico and one in Rome — Dennis’ consistent ability to score podiums and points had given him a firm lead over rivals like Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans.

But according to Dennis, he was able to keep calm because he’d been in this situation before, heading into the end of a season as a points leader, ready to pounce on a title. In fact, Dennis had even gone so far as to win that title. There was just one problem: It was a karting championship, and he’d taken that single title back in 2010.

That didn’t seem to phase the driver in the slightest.

“Right now, it’s the same approach,” he said when I asked about his preparation for the season finale. “The same homework, the same simulator work. We just want to make it as consistent as possible and take it session by session.”

Behind that casual attitude, though, was a pressure that Dennis didn’t even seem aware of.

“It would be a relief,” he said of winning the Formula E championship. “You put in all this effort, all this hard work, and to get something back — more than just race wins or podiums — would be something special.

“Thirteen years is a long time.”

The laid-back mindset worked for Dennis. Title rival Mitch Evans qualified on the front row for Saturday’s race, but a lingering five-place grid penalty dropped him down the starting order. Nick Cassidy, Dennis’ other title rival, therefore inherited pole position after qualifying second. After the chaos of a crash, a brief red flag, and a time penalty for one of the drivers on the podium, Dennis was promoted to second place in the race — enough to grant him a World Championship. He became the first British World Champion in Formula E history, and secured the first driver title for Andretti, which has been part of the sport since its inception.

“After the first red flag, I felt like the whole race was caving in against me,” Dennis said in a press conference after Saturday’s ePrix. “It’s not very often you get to race at this high level in front of this many fans and your family with no pressure. I’ll just enjoy tomorrow — just circle at the back.”