FE | Dennis: “Sought by other teams, but Andretti is superior”

The 2024 Formula E season is upon us. There are many contenders for the title, but for Jake Dennis the objective is to defend the world championship crown won last season with Andretti, when he managed to impose himself by obtaining two victories and another nine podiums. The Englishman then celebrated winning the world championship at his home event, in London, in what was the penultimate race of the season.

For the 28-year-old, what is about to begin will be his fourth season in Formula E, all contested with Andretti. The Briton joined the American team in 2021, when he was still the official partner of BMW before his farewell at the end of that championship. A delicate moment for the series, because the abandonment of the Bavarian company was added to those of Audi and Mercedes.

Despite BMW's official farewell, in 2022 Andretti clearly kept the same Powertrain, while for the arrival of Gen 3 it had to look for a different partner, which then materialized in the Porsche brand. A move that proved to be fundamental for winning the title, given that the package made available by the German manufacturer later proved to be extremely effective, especially in the first part of the season.

However, according to Dennis this is only one of the reasons why he was able to win the title last season, because Andretti over the years has started a recruitment campaign with which he managed to secure high-level engineers: “I was with them [Andretti] from the beginning. The team has developed a lot since the BMW days, and in recent years we have brought in some really good staff. I feel like we're reaching an incredibly high level, higher than any other team, I would say,” Dennis said.

A trust that pushed the Briton to sign multi-year contracts both in August 2022 and in December 2023, therefore a few months after winning the world title. A necessary move for Andretti, who wanted to ensure Dennis' presence also for the next championships, given that other teams tried to understand if there was room for a change of jersey at the end of 2024. Dennis himself has in fact admitted that other teams have expressed interest in his possible engagement. However, his trust in the American team pushed him to renew his contract beyond 2025.

“I would be lying if I said there wasn't. Becoming champion obviously generates a lot of interest. But to be honest, I was very happy with Andretti. I already had a contract with them this year, even without the extension. I wouldn't have gone anywhere leaves after the ninth season [2023]. It seemed right to me to continue the collaboration with them. It wasn't a difficult decision for me to make.”

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Champion Jake Dennis, Andretti Autosport celebrates with the team

Andretti and engine supplier Porsche were the main protagonists of the 2022/23 season, especially in the opening phase of the championship, when their long-distance advantage was absolutely tangible. Although they showed some more signs of fatigue on the flying lap, in the race the excellent characteristics in terms of consumption management of the German engine emerged. Only in the second half of the championship did their rivals manage to put the Porsche-powered cars in difficulty, especially when Jaguar and its customer team Envision began to rise up the ranks.

Both Envision and Andretti beat their respective factory teams in the final team standings, so much so that the British team even clinched the title by beating Jaguar in the final round of the season. As for the possibility of this scenario repeating itself this year, Dennis believes it's possible: “We'll be very close if it happens!”

“We all have the same software, almost the same powertrain, and both teams are working at an incredibly high level. I definitely don't think it's going to be a walk in the park, but whether we beat the Porsche team or the Jaguar team, we just want to beat everyone.” .

Photo by: Malcolm Griffiths / Motorsport Images

Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, Norman Nato, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3

To win the constructors' title in addition to the drivers' title, another of Andretti's objectives, it will be necessary to have a second competitive car. For this reason the American team chose to hire Norman Nato, author of Nissan's only podium in 2023 and who arrived, at least initially, because Andretti was looking for a driver who would not take part in other competitions, as had instead happened with André Lotterer, involved in the official Porsche program in the WEC. However, after signing the agreement with Nato, the Frenchman also signed a contract with Porsche to take part in the Endurance championship with the private Jota team.

Nonetheless, Dennis believes that Nato can prove to be an excellent partner for the title: “I think we can get more points than last season. There is obviously a lot of effort from everyone to try to make the twin side of the garage work better The tests carried out so far have gone very well and he has been very fast.”