By Carlo Platella
The first E-Prix of the year establishes Jaguar and Porsche as points of reference in the category, winners of one and two races respectively, to which is added the leadership of both world championship rankings held by the English manufacturer. However, the competition did not stand idly by, as they demonstrate podium finishes in Saudi Arabia for DS and Nissan, with Jean-Eric Vergne and Oliver Rowland respectively. The growth of the pursuers does not leave Jake Dennis indifferent, who says he is impressed by the progress of the Stellantis and Nissan motors.
The group compacts
The reigning world champion reflects on the balance of power that emerged in the first three rounds: “I would say that it is mainly DS and Maserati that have closed the gap, especially in qualifying, as well as Nissan and McLaren, but in terms of race pace I think we still have an advantage over them. However, McLaren seems very competitive in the race. Bird and Hughes finished fourth on Friday and Saturday, respectively. I'm curious to see how they will behave in the next races, which will be a little more limited energetically.”
“Looking at the energy parameters of Nissan and McLaren that emerged in the race, they were definitely impressive”, adds Dennis. “They used similar energy levels to me. From my point of view, I would say that Nissan and McLaren have improved in terms of energy efficiency. It's no mystery that they have one of the best cars in qualifying.” In 2023, three pole positions were won by Nissan-powered cars, to which is added the most recent one signed by Oliver Rowland in Saudi Arabia.
The Andretti standard-bearer also carefully follows the progress of the Stellantis home teams: “I have always thought that the DS and Maserati powertrains, when they enter the optimal window, are very competitive. Gunther practically dominated in Jakarta last year. The car has potential and both Penske and Max showed it this weekend. In the race they still struggle a bit, but they have certainly reduced the gap. In qualifying, however, they have the better of us, at least for the moment.”
Third parties
The progress in qualifying of DS and Maserati, combined with the already excellent competitiveness of the Nissan-powered cars on the flying lap, have shown that they can put even the leaders in the class in difficulty. “If in the balance of power in qualifying you fall behind another manufacturer, it becomes quite penalizing”comments Dennis. “You risk being excluded from the direct elimination phase and, instead of qualifying sixth, maybe you start tenth. I would prefer that Porsche was dominant and that I only had to race against Wehrlein, Da Costa and Nato, but the reality is that the level is rising and everyone is improving”.
According to the British sample, DS and Maserati manage to hit the optimal operating range more easily: “Stellantis powertrains are able to find the ideal window more frequently than we do.” This is something that Porsche-powered cars don't always succeed in, as evidenced by the flying lap difficulties that emerged in 2023 and the disastrous qualifying on Saturday in Diriyah, after a dominated Friday. Dennis says about it: “I've been feeling the car for 15 yearsto-20to position, that was what he deserved. Given the balance and grip I had in the car, I wasn't surprised to start fifteenth in the race. Now we are trying to analyze the data to understand because we were outside the window. Hankook tires are difficult to get into the operating range and when you do you gain performance, but on Saturday we couldn't turn them on.”
“The level of competition is extremely high. On Saturday we had practically no performance compared to Jaguar and Nissan. Nothing is guaranteed. On Friday we won by 13 seconds, while on Saturday we finished twelfth.”reflects the Englishman. “The competition has gotten closer and if you don't perform at your best you find yourself twelfth, while maybe last year I would have finished sixth. McLaren, Nissan, DS and Maserati are all operating at a high level. The only one who has managed to be consistent so far is Cassidy.”
Porsche and Jaguar still ahead
Despite the awareness of the work done by the pursuers, Jake Dennis believes that the two leading manufacturers in 2023 are still the point of reference: “If I had to choose one car on the grid, it would still be a Porsche e Luckily I drive one. Jaguar will also be extremely fast.” There is still a great balance between the two rivals, without either of them having managed to gain the upper hand during the autumn break.
“Jaguar and Porsche are in a great position again, but I would say neither has progressed compared to the other. Cassidy is very consistent, but in terms of pure performance we won two races and they won one. They certainly have some strengths, for example traction, like we have others, but I would say that in the various areas the differences have remained similar”. Despite the 13 races still to be held, Dennis is convinced that the same manufacturers as in 2023 will compete for the title: “I suspect that it will still be one of Porsche or Jaguar to win the championship”.
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