Jake Dennis without points after puncture in Jeddah: "It was a racing accident, noone's fault!"

Jake Dennis and the Andretti Formula E Team got off to a strong start to the twelfth season of Formula E. The Briton secured race victory straight away at the season opener in Sao Paulo, underlining the team's ambitions. In the following events, however, it was initially not possible to consistently deliver this level of performance - until the race weekend in Jeddah.

On the second day of racing in Saudi Arabia, Dennis impressively demonstrated the potential of his car. He set the fastest time in the third free practice session and dominated the session with a controlled yet aggressive lap. He took this strong form straight into qualifying, where he was once again among the fastest. Only Mahindra driver Edoardo Mortara was able to narrowly beat him in the final duel. This secured Dennis second place on the grid for the night race on Saturday, an excellent starting position on the street circuit.

"It was a pretty good start to the day, P1 in practice and P2 in qualifying", explained Dennis afterwards when asked by e-Formula.news. The team was correspondingly optimistic going into the race, especially as it became clear early on that the setup was competitive, particularly in the long run.

Dennis confirmed the positive impression in the race itself. He consistently stayed in the leading group, avoided unnecessary duels and impressed above all with his efficient energy management. He had one of the best energy balances in the leading group, at times around four per cent more than some of his direct rivals. This would have put him in an excellent strategic position for the decisive final phase.

Dennis: "We were pretty quick all weekend"

However, the setback followed on lap 17: Dennis had to pit after a contact. "I had a puncture, which was a bit of a shame. But, there are still positives to take away from this weekend", he said after the race. According to Dennis, the cause was an incident with Zane Maloney in the Lola Yamaha ABT car, the contact led to a gradual loss of pressure shortly afterwards. "I got it with Zane in the final corner. It was just a racing accident. It was noone's fault."

Despite the premature retirement, the positives outweigh the negatives for Dennis. The pace over one lap, the race speed and the energy efficiency give him confidence for the upcoming races. "We were pretty quick the whole weekend, apart from the first qualifying session. The rest of it has not been too bad, it's just a shame that I got this puncture today. But we'll move on from it."

What happens next for Jake Dennis and Andretti will only become clear in just over a month's time. The next round of the FIA Formula E World Championship starts on 21 March at the Circuito def Jarama in Madrid.