Second best champion after 7 races: Dennis lays foundation for title defence with 3 podiums in a row

After the Misano E-Prix, Jake Dennis is level on points with Pascal Wehrlein, the current leader in the Formula E drivers' standings. In Italy, the Brit was once again able to show his consistency despite less than ideal qualifying sessions. Two second places last weekend ensured the best points haul of all the drivers. He is also doing very well in the historical comparison of previous Formula E champions. Despite scoring 36 points, Dennis talks about difficult races in Misano and the Andretti car's efficiency and balance problems.

The race weekend on the Italian coast was particularly difficult in qualifying for the Andretti team. Dennis only qualified 17th on the grid in the first race and only 9th on Sunday, while things didn't go any better for Norman Nato either, who qualified 11th and 16th. Andretti was a long way off the works team Porsche of Pascal Wehrlein in particular.

Dennis impresses with two tremendous chases to the podium

What played into the hands of the US team: A good grid position in Misano was almost completely worthless. In no time at all, the drivers swapped places and also the lead. With a little finesse, Dennis was also quickly flushed into the front of the field. The final laps, and especially the energy management, were crucial.

Energy management made the race more complicated for the Briton than was apparent from the outside: "The balance of the car was poor, and so was the energy efficiency." However, his efforts to save energy paid off in the end. A race without incidents was also crucial, which Dennis managed to do, unlike his team-mate and many others. He is therefore very pleased with the points haul: "I'm really happy with second place on such a complicated weekend."

Interesting statistic: In ten years of Formula E, Dennis has the second-best points haul of all previous champions after seven races. This means he also has more points than Jean-Eric Vergne in season 5, when the Frenchman defended his title. Only Sebastien Buemi had more points (132) with five victories in season 3, but was to lose the championship to Lucas di Grassi in the final races of the season. With Dennis' 89 points - the same number as Wehrlein - his title defence mission is well on track so far.

Race in Misano better than the Formula 1 races

While many drivers were critical of the "peloton" races in Italy, Dennis has a different opinion. He even liked Misano better than Tokyo: "I like races like this - unlike Tokyo, where the exact opposite was the case and where it can get boring for the fans. As soon as you've completed the second attack mode, you know where you're going to finish. Misano was a bit more exciting." Nevertheless, things also went well for the reigning world champion in Japan with fifth place in qualifying and third place in the race.

"Especially with regard to Formula 1, it's good if we offer more excitement instead of driving in a row behind each other," says Dennis - even if Misano is still far from perfect: "The biggest problem with the track is the chicane. Portland's first chicane is much better". Nevertheless, the US race was "too extreme" for him.

The multiple race winner is already looking forward to next weekend's race. On 27 April, Formula E returns to the Principality of Monaco, which has provided great races in recent years. "Monaco last year was perfect!" says Dennis.