Jake Dennis takes the lead in the World Championship in Tokyo: "If someone had told me that, I’d have taken it any day"

For Jake Dennis, the two races in Tokyo could hardly have gone better: the Andretti driver secured two podium finishes during the double-header and took the lead in the Drivers’ World Championship on Sunday. Dennis thus replaced Jaguar driver Mitch Evans at the top of the standings. Evans had only taken the championship lead from Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein the day before.

As recently as Friday, Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein had been at the top of the drivers’ standings. However, during the race, he collided with his former team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa, forcing the German to retire from the race. Meanwhile, Mitch Evans, previously second in the championship, finished fourth and secured 12 points. The New Zealander thus took the lead in the drivers’ championship. Jake Dennis found himself in third place at that point. However, this lasted for just one day.

Sunday: Dennis takes the championship lead

During Sunday’s qualifying session, things didn’t look too promising for Dennis at first: he secured only 17th on the grid. During the race, however, luck seemed to be on his side. He successfully worked his way up the field bit by bit. When the race was interrupted following a collision involving several cars, Dennis was in third place. "I said to myself: 'Let’s just get this thing over the finish line after the restart behind the safety car'," he revealed at the post-race press conference.

For his two rivals, Wehrlein and Evans, however, Sunday’s race turned out quite differently. Evans was unable to finish the race due to damage, whilst Wehrlein also failed to score any points, finishing in 14th place. With the 16 points from Sunday, the Formula E Season 9 world champion now leads Evans by two points and Wehrlein by five.

Dennis: "I’d have taken that any day"

Dennis admitted that he hadn’t expected to achieve such a result: "If someone had told me that I’d finish third and that all my main rivals wouldn’t score any points, I’d have taken that any day. I’m very happy with the 16 points. The car was brilliant." There’s great anticipation for the decisive race in London, Dennis’s home race. The Englishman predicts an exciting race: "I think it’s going to be a very close race. I’m really looking forward to the challenge ahead. I’m confident."

This means the battle for the World Championship title will only be decided in London, where Dennis secured his title three years ago. The double-header will take place on 15 and 16 August at the ExCeL in London.