Jake Dennis
LAT Images for Formula E
Jake Dennis has never had the same teammate in consecutive seasons. What’s more, the Formula E World Champion has beat every single one of them. In a series known for its chaos and adaptability, Dennis has remained a constant even when the car wasn’t always performing at its best.
This season he will be joined by rookie Felipe Drugovich, a Formula 2 champion who has spent the last few years under Aston Martin F1’s wings, a move that signals Andretti’s motivations to climb to the top of the order.
Rebuilding After The Peak
“After winning the championship in season nine, we did lose a couple of good personnel, which is natural,” said Dennis. “People always are looking for the next chapter. When you win a world championship, people kind of see the accomplishment as has been made and then we’ll look for new challenges.”
He added, “We’ve definitely worked hard through the winter to try and regain some good personnels and there’s been some changes inside of the team, which so far is positive.”
In a sport where the grid is so close together, such changes can make all the difference and that post-title change was felt immediately.
Calibrating Performance
Andretti’s performance dropped off during the 2024-25 season, especially in the second half, leaving the drivers unable to convert qualifying speed into race pace. But amidst this, there were flashes of performance which Dennis associates with grit.
“Jeddah was a pretty tough weekend for us as a team. I think both cars basically qualified 19th and 20th. It was a very difficult weekend for us. But, with good strategy, a good race car, and just determination to do well was something which we managed to turn around and we obviously had a great result there by finishing fourth,” said Dennis.
“There’ll be days where it obviously it won’t work out and you come home with nothing,” said the Briton. “Inside of Andretti, we’re very good at trying to make a result out of something, even if, the backs are against the walls and we’re not always in the best position to do so, I would back ourselves nine times out of 10 to come away with something rather than nothing.”
But for Andretti, the road is still long to reach the top of the podium. Other teams have made steps forward too.
“Instead of it really being like a two-way fight between Porsche and Jaguar, it’s now a four or five manufacturer fight,” said Dennis. “So it’s just a lot harder to now, make it on the podium every single race.”
So while ambitions are high, expectations have to remain realistic and where chaos reigns, consistency becomes key.
Moreover, Andretti operates as a customer team using Porsche powertains which limits its development for the upcoming Gen4 era. It also means that drivers have no testing. However, Dennis sees it as an advantage.
“It’s a little bit more straightforward that we just focus on the one thing, what we can actually do, which is Gen 3.5,” he said. “We’ll just focus on what we can ultimately control, which is my race car, how quickly I can drive and how good the setup is.”
Moreover, while Porsche and Jaguar have to divide their attention between the current generation of cars and the next generation systems, Andretti’s relative independence allows for total focus on execution.
Looking Forward
Competition in Formula E has rarely been tighter. Over the past two seasons, margins have been decided by hundredths of a second, and the occasional flash of chaos that turns a championship on its head.
“I don’t think we’ll see something like what Oliver [Rowland] did, where he was so dominant at the start and then so poor at the end, I would have to very much imagine everyone sort of got on top of their weaknesses. We should see a great fight. Hopefully I’m involved in that,” said Dennis.
Now entering his fifth season with Andretti, a partnership that began in 2020–21, Dennis is committed to a project and an ambition that’s chasing the summit.
“I have every bit of faith inside Andretti that we can win races again, we can win championships,” he said. “It’s down to me to do my job. I can’t just rely on previous success. I have to keep pushing myself and get better.”