Dennis rages after Formula E launch by Ticktum in Sao Paulo: "He's in his own little world"

Before the Formula E race weekend in Brazil, Jake Dennis was considered one of the favorites to win due to his efficient customer Porsche from Andretti. However, his race in Sao Paulo ended prematurely and abruptly after an impetuous action by his compatriot Dan Ticktum. The question of who was to blame was quickly settled after the E-Prix, but Dennis expressed extreme frustration with the Nio 333 driver, blaming his braking on the track surface.

Between the first and second safety car periods, Dennis and Ticktum were midfield and racing - not immediately behind each other - toward Turn 1. Dennis was already steering in when Ticktum roared into the side of his car with a clear excess of speed. The Andretti suffered damage to the right rear wheel. Dennis had to park his car a few corners later and take the next zero - another setback in the world championship battle for him.

"I've seen the onboard footage and I have no idea what he was thinking," Dennis lashed out at Ticktum on TV's World Signal. "I'm really annoyed with Dan. He's in his own little world. He just forgot to brake and crashed into me. You prepare for so long, and then a guy like that just forgets to brake. I'm really annoyed to be honest. That's how it is now. I'm emotionally annoyed and annoyed with the overall situation."

Ticktum: "Braked, but nothing just happened"

Ticktum - topless in the world signal - can only laugh about the situation and subsequently explains why: "I just didn't come to a stop. This gray pavement on the start and finish straight - if there's some rubber on it, it's okay. But as soon as you're next to the racing line, in combination with the dirt next to the racing line.... I even braked earlier than the car I was trying to pass, but I just didn't slow down!"

"I was close to the wall and thought to myself, I'd better brake a bit earlier. So I braked, but nothing just happened. Then you hit the brakes even harder, and that sometimes makes it worse, depending on the systems and stuff. The car just didn't slow down. I haven't experienced anything like that in my entire racing career. I don't know if I would have even gotten turn 3," he jokes.

When asked if he wanted to apologize to Dennis, Ticktum replied, "Yes, of course, if I see him. Then I will apologize. Because, of course, I didn't mean to do that at all. It was just unfortunate and a chaotic race." He looks for further arguments for the accident in the track design: "These curves already provoke such situations. In turns 4, 5 and 6, everyone was constantly touching each other, losing front wings and so on. For the fans, I'm sure it was entertaining, but as a driver it's quite difficult to manage."

"Can still win the championship"

While Ticktum was able to finish the race in 14th place, Dennis' workday ended with a sad walk back toward pit lane. After his great start to the season with 1st, 2nd and 2nd places, three pointless E-Prix followed for him. Nevertheless, the Andretti driver still occupies second place in the Formula E overall standings and "only" lost six points to leader Pascal Wehrlein in Brazil.

Number 27 is back in the garage and the team can confirm right rear suspension damage took him out of the race.#SaoPauloEPrix pic.twitter.com/WdZMEOBfNq

- Avalanche Andretti FE ? (@AndrettiFE) March 25, 2023

"We can still win the championship, but right now, of course, it's just frustrating," Dennis said. "It's like I have a target on my back. That was the second race where I'm actually running my own race, and then someone behind me forgets to brake and crashes into me. It happened in Hyderabad with Rast, here with Ticktum. There's nothing I can do about that."

"But it was only the sixth race, the season is still long. Still, we've now thrown away 40 points or so - that's not good enough," Dennis lamented. The Briton's next chance to score points comes in four weeks' time at the "double-header" in Berlin. Whether Dan Ticktum will have apologized to him by then?