In the most dramatic of circumstances, Jake Dennis is crowned 2023 Formula E World Champion after his closest contender Nick Cassidy is taken out by his Envision teammate Sebastien Buemi, as the race also featured 2 red flags in its final 5 laps.

Race Start

Nick Cassidy had the advantage off the line as teammate Buemi beat Dennis into turn 1 to make it an Envision 1-2. This was important for the team not just in terms of the drivers championship but for the constructors too.

Dan Ticktum had an awful start and by lap 3 he was down to P7. But as early as this, drivers were activating attack mode, and drivers were saving energy. Cassidy was holding up the whole pack as he ran in the lead for the opening laps.

Behind there was chaos as Vandoorne had contact with Eduardo Mortara, spinning the Maserti around at Turn 1. The DS Penske received front wing damage in the contact. There was also an incident as Robin Frijns spun at Turn 19 after going side by side with Sergio Sette Camara, as the Nio drove him into the wall afterwards, leaving Lucas Di Grassi blocked and hopeless.

In the opening phase of the race, Cassidy opened up a gap to take his first attack mode, with Buemi holding up the pack behind him allowing his teammate to retain the lead. This put Dennis under pressure from Evans, as the Jaguar overtook the Andretti on lap 7. To add to Dennis’ woes, Cassidy took his second attack mode and now had a clear track in front of him.

Dennis was feeling the pressure, as he proceeded to miss attack mode on lap 8, losing P4 to Rene Rast. He had the Porsche of Wehrlein behind him along with the other Jaguar of Sam Bird. Mitch Evans was into the lead on lap 9 as he was the one left to not have taken attack mode.

However, Cassidy was behind his teammate Buemi and being majorly held up. Into the final corner, Dennis sent an aggressive lunge up the inside of his closest championship contender and made it work, allowing Rene Rast to overtake the Kiwi driver. However, Rast was also passed Dennis into Turn 1 as the McLaren driver took advantage of both drivers being held up.

On lap 13, Cassidy tried to make a move on Dennis as the two went side by side throughout the opening sector, banging wheels and making contact in a thrilling battle. Buemi boxed Dennis in, allowing his teammate to pass Dennis in move brilliantly executed by both drivers.

Envision Disaster, and Championship Hopes Over for Cassidy

The two teammates went wheel to wheel on lap 14 as the Swiss driver defended hard. On lap 15, Cassidy tried again, but it was after disaster. Buemi swiped across the Kiwi’s front wing and Cassidy had damage.

Nick Cassidy, the polesitter and early race leader. The man who was in prime position to reduce Dennis’ championship advantage and create a final race showdown between the two. He was out of the race. He was in the pits for damage, as the safety car was deployed.

The situation for Jake Dennis now was simple. Finish in 3^rd and he was world champion. Nick Cassidy was aggrieved and frustrated on the radio. Whilst the drivers championship was out of Buemi’s hands, Envision were also going for the teams title, and this disaster had a constructors championship repercussion too.

Their closest rivals Porsche had both cars in the Top 10 as Antonio Felix Da Costa had wrestled his way into P9, up 8 positions, and Wehrlein was behind Buemi and Rast in P4. Jaguar also had both drivers in the points with Evans leading the race and Sam Bird sat in P6, which would healthily reduce the advantage Envision had at the top.

Buemi was left as Envision’s only hope for points in the contractor’s championship.

Safety Car Restart

Evans got a good restart and led the field. But Dennis was frustratedly being held up by Pascal Wehrlein. The Brit was on the radio asking their powertrain team to allow him by, with Wehrlein out of the drivers picture, unaware that Wehrlein was there to fight for the constructors championship.

It was disaster for Dennis yet again as he tried to activate it on lap 21, with it failing to turn on. The Andretti driver missed the first activation point again. Thankfully for Dennis, he did not lose any track position. On the next lap he succeeded and overtook the Maserati of Max Gunther quickly.

Behind it was mayhem, but a key event was Nick Cassidy jumping out of his car on lap 23. He was out of the race and hopeless. He was set to lose 2^nd place in the drivers championship to fellow Kiwi Mitch Evans.

Porsche annoy Dennis

On lap 27, Evans led ahead of Buemi and Rast. Dennis was ahead of Wehrlein as Da Costa had made his way into P6. Norman Nato had Sam Bird all over his rear end as Max Gunther and Stoffel Vandoorne completed the top 10.

The McLaren of Rene Rast was a thorn in Dennis’ side as he held the Brit up on lap 28, with his front wing being broken, allowing Wehrlein to make a move on the Andretti. The two banged wheels and went side by side through the opening sector, but Dennis held on. Dennis was furious with the move being made by the powertrain suppliers, as team owner Michael Andretti rushed to work out what Porsche we doing fighting his driver.

Behind there were yellow flags, that were going to have key consequences. The safety car was then deployed as Sacha Fenestraz was in the walls at Turn 16 as his Nissan had gone straight on at high speed. The Nissan had gone over the car of Sergio Sette Camara as the two came together.

There had also been a disaster for Porsche. The reason Rene Rast had broken his front wing was due to colliding with Wehrlein at Turn 1. This meant the German was out of the points, but Rast’s front wing was damaged to such an extent he had to pit for damage.

This was turned into a red flag as the marshals needed to fix the barriers. Any cars with damage could now be fixed, which came too late for Rast. He had already pulled up as he thought he could not continue. But this red flag gave the teams a chance to chat to their drivers, and the fans a breather into what had been an extraordinary race so far in London.

Race Restart

A key thing here was Sebastien Buemi has 6mins of attack mode yet to be engaged. The real question was if there was enough time for the Envision driver, as he would possibly have to hold up the whole pack and prolong the race for the duration so that he would not be disqualified. Evans also had to activate attack mode, meaning he would have to push as hard as possible in order to create the gap to the field and retain the lead.

The safety car led the field for a lap, but on lap 33, the field was released. Evans led Buemi and da Costa with Dennis in P4. Norman Nato was in P6 ahead of Vandoorne and Sette Camara. Buemi activated his attack mode as the Envision began to hold up the field aggressively. Evans activated his too, and retained the lead crucially.

Buemi was defending with all his might, but into Turn 19 it was carnage. Hughes was in the wall at Turn 3, but there was a car park at the penultimate corner. A second red flag was flown as all cars below P4 were stopped or in the wall.

It was complete chaos and carnage yet again that just continuously added more drama into what had already been a ridiculous race. There was not a single driver out of the race as a result of this, meaning we were set for a 2 lap sprint to the finish.

A New Champion is Crowned

Throughout this, Dennis had crept into the crucial P3 position and if he held on, he would be world champion. On the restart, Evans led Da Costa and Dennis with Buemi chasing the Andretti down in P4. However, dramatically Da Costa was given a 3 minute time penalty for a technical infraction.

Onto the final lap, Dennis was in a net P2 and with no worries to be aware of. Whilst Evans took a deserved victory around London and move him ahead of Cassidy for second place in the championship, all eyes were on Dennis. The British driver crossed the line in front of his adoring home crowd to win the 2023 Formula E world title.

Buemi takes P3 after all of the chaos the Swiss driver had to tackle passed, as Sam Bird finishes in P4 ahead of Sergio Sette Camara, who takes an unbelievable P5 for Nio. Mortara finishes in P6 followed by Lucas Di Grassi, with Dan Ticktum, Norman Nato and Wehrlein rounding off the points paying positions.

Championship Rundown

Jake Dennis is the drivers championship winner this year as he leads Evans by an impassable 34 points with 10 podiums in 15 races carrying him to the title. In the fight for P2, Evans overtakes Cassidy after heartbreak for his fellow countryman and has an 8 point advantage heading into the final race.

For the teams, this race created an unbelievable spectacle. Jaguar and Envision are level on points at the top, as Porsche trail by 26 points and Andretti are 31 points off. London Race 2 will be one to watch as there is a titanic 4 way battle yet to decide which team is crowned the champions of electric racing. Do not miss the grand finale!

But for now, we have a drivers champion, and who else could have deserved it more. In the most fitting fashion in front of a home crowd, Jake Dennis is your champion of Season 9 for Formula E!

Race Result

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Mitch Evans	Jaguar TCS Racing	33:47:300
2	Jake Dennis	Avalanche Andretti	33:48:416
3	Sebastien Buemi	Envision Racing	33:48:968
4	Sam Bird	Jaguar TCS Racing	33:50:354
5	Sergio Sette Camara	Nio 333 Racing	33:51:082
6	Eduardo Mortara	Maserati MSG Racing	33:51:563
7	Lucas Di Grassi	Mahindra Racing	33:52:069
8	Dan Ticktum	Nio 333 Racing	33:52:418
9	Norman Nato	Nissan	33:54:827
10	Pascal Wehrlein	Tag Heuer Porsche	33:56:025
11	Jake Hughes	Neom McLaren	33:56:428
12	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske	33:57:531
13	Maxamilian Gunther	Maserati MSG Racing	33:57:868
14	Andre Lotterer	Avalanche Andretti	33:58:394
15	Rene Rast	Neom McLaren	33:59:089
16	Roberto Merhi	Mahindra Racing	34:10:772
17	Antonio Felix Da Costa	Tag Heuer Porsche	36:47:966
18	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan	DNF
19	Nick Cassidy	Envision Racing	DNF
20	Nico Muller	ABT Cupra	DNF
21	Jean Eric Vergne	DS Penske	DNF
22	Robin Frijns	ABT Cupra	DNF

Championship Points

Drivers Championship

Standings	Driver	Team	Points
Champion	Jake Dennis (C)	Andretti	213
2	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	179
3	Nick Cassidy	Envision	171
4	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	148

Constructors Championship

Standings	Team	Points
1	Jaguar	268
2	Envision	268
3	Porsche	241
4	Andretti	236