Jake Dennis' wish to Santa Claus: "To win another Formula E championship"

Andretti driver Jake Dennis is really looking forward to Christmas, even though he won't be able to celebrate the festive season and New Year's as much as he would like. However, the current Formula E championship leader is happy to pay this price in order to fly across the pond shortly after the New Year to compete in the Mexico City E-Prix.

The twelfth Formula E season has got off to a great start for Brit Jake Dennis: In the first race of the new season of the electric world championship, Dennis scored his first win of the season on the Sao Paulo circuit. The next race is scheduled for the beginning of January in Mexico City. In between, however, there is still Christmas and New Year's, a time that brings special challenges for a professional athlete like Dennis.

When asked by e-Formula.news, he said that he is looking forward to the festive period, but that the timing with the second race approaching is not so easy: "Yeah, it definitely makes it a lot more difficult, especially on the diet front. For me, generally just watching my weight is probably the biggest thing. I can't be indulging too much on all of the food", shares the 1.87 metre tall driver.

"I think someone like myself who's quite tall, you want to enjoy christmas like everyone does, you want to eat food, don't want to train all the time, like no one wants to be training outside in the freezing cold," he continues. But he will have to give up his favourite food, sticky toffee pudding - a traditional English dessert of moist sponge cake with toffee sauce, often served with custard or vanilla ice cream - at Christmas. "It's my favourite dessert whether it's christmas or in the middle of the summer, it's just unbelievable", enthuses the Brit.

Christmas in England with the family

The newly engaged driver and his partner Lexi Grace Boosey are travelling to England for Christmas, where they will celebrate with Boosey's family: "My family actually live quite spread out. My mum lives in Cyprus, my dad lives in Greece, so I won't see them on Christmas, so it's very much spending time with my sister and my partner's family. We'll just be spending it in the UK which is nice, it's nice to be back home and spending time with family and friends because when the season starts you're away a lot, you don't get to see too many of your friends."

After the New Year, however, preparation in the racing simulator is quickly on the agenda: "Generally the preparation is, you're still doing all the sim work and for us that is the Monday, Tuesday of the race week. So we do still get basically from the 1st to the 5th (of January) at home or wherever you want to be, which is nice. I know some teams do sim preparation on the 2nd and 3rd, which is very early. Once I start the simulator preparation it is very much like, okay now the season has officially started. We're in the 2026 and it's pretty back to back from then on."

"Mexico is always a great event"

Nonetheless, Dennis is very much looking forward to the first race in 2026. Historically, the Briton has been able to achieve good results on the circuit in Mexico City. In the last four seasons in which he has competed in Formula E in Mexico, he has always finished the races in the points. He even secured victory in season 9.

"Mexico is always a great event. I've always had really good results there in the past. The event itself is always sold out, there's lots of fans, they're really interactive and they create a really good atmosphere. So excited to go back", he describes. The Briton is also confident about the competition: "In terms of the team's position, I think we're in as good a position as we can be. I think ultimately it's going to be tough to beat everyone, but I'm feeling confident that we have as good a shot as anyone. We know how to win championships, I know how to win races, and I know that the team can deliver me a good car. So we just need to try and put the pieces all together and make it one final result."

"The advantages of the Mexico circuit are really probably the stadium effect"

A special section of the track in Mexico is always a highlight for Dennis: "The advantages of the Mexico circuit are really probably the stadium effect what we have. Formula E have this really cool sort of tight twisty section where the fans can obviously see the cars for a really long time, you know, probably 20 seconds. In the grand scheme of things, that's a long time for a car to be in one specific area. For us, in that moment, you can then hear the fans as well with the cars being so quiet and electric, you can really hear the fans cheering while you're racing, which is a pretty surreal experience. I've never had that at any other circuit."

This spurs the drivers on even more, as Dennis can say from experience: "It's like the stadium effect increases the volume quite significantly, and then, I think, when you stand on top of the podium there or on top of your car to see the crowd, frankly I've had the experience and got to witness that is pretty special."

However, the focus is not just on the next race, but on the season as a whole. A second world championship title is on the wish list - and not just for Christmas. In order to achieve this goal, attitude and approach play a particularly important role, he explains: "I have to go into this year thinking I can win this championship for sure. There's no point aiming for second or third or fourth place when you've already won it. I'm feeling confident the team are in the right position and the right mindset for that as well."

Jake Dennis has already taken the first step in this direction with victory in Sao Paulo. Whether he can continue his winning streak in Mexico City will become clear in the new year when the Formula E season resumes on 10 January 2026.