Lucas di Grassi finished third in Mexico to hand Mahindra Racing a podium finish.
Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis produced an energy management masterclass to win the Mexico City E-Prix, emerging as the first winner of Formula E’s new Gen3 era. Mahindra Racing also had a solid opening round, with Lucas di Grassi taking pole position and converting it into a podium finish.
- Dennis wins 7.816 secs ahead of Wehrlein
- Di Grassi scores 18 points for Mahindra
Frijns suffers broken wrist after crash
The first race of Formula E’s new Gen3 era got off to an erratic start with most of the opening 10 laps being behind the Safety Car. Abt Cupra’s Robin Frijns was one of the drivers involved in an opening-lap incident.
He ran into the back of Norman Nato’s Nissan, forcing both drivers to retire from the race. Abt has since released a statement confirming that Frijns suffered a fracture to his left wrist and will need to undergo an operation.
The next round is just two weeks away. So if Frijns is unable to recover in time, that does open up the possibility of Mahindra Racing reserve Jehan Daruvala being asked to fill in. Abt has returned to Formula E this year as Mahindra Racing’s customer team, with both teams sharing resources.
Jake Dennis takes commanding win in Mexico
Mahindra Racing got off to a strong start, with di Grassi on pole position. However, the former Formula E champion never really got a chance to pull away a lead due to the Safety Car periods. Taking advantage of this, Dennis made a move on lap 12 to take the lead.
Over the next few laps, Dennis put on a dominant display to take victory, over 7 secs ahead of Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein. In fact, Porsche enjoyed quite a promising 2023 season-opener with four 99X Electric cars in the top seven (Andretti is competing as Porsche’s customer team).
Pole position and podium for Mahindra Racing
Pole sitter Di Grassi was under huge pressure in the second half of the race as his Mahindra M9Electro registered 1-2 percent less energy than his closest rivals. He eventually slipped to third but put in a valiant effort to fend off a queue of four cars behind him to hold on to the podium.
“What happened today was like a Mexican miracle. To be on pole and to be on the podium and going home with 18 points after a tough beginning to the season is a testimony to the hard work the team are putting in to make the car the best we can,” said di Grassi.
“I gave it my all today to try and make the team proud. I’m very happy to leave here with this result, it feels like a victory to us. But this is just the beginning. We need more consistent results and we have got to work hard for this.”
Oliver Rowland had a more difficult race as he struggled with tyre degradation in qualifying. He climbed up from 22nd on the starting grid to finish 13th.
2023 Mexico E-Prix results
| 2023 Mexico E-Prix results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Jake Dennis | Andretti |
| 2 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche |
| 3 | Lucas di Grassi | Mahindra Racing |
| 4 | Andre Lotterer | Andretti |
| 5 | Jake Hughes | McLaren |
| 6 | Sebastien Buemi | Envision Racing |
| 7 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Porsche |
| 8 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar TCS Racing |
| 9 | Nick Cassidy | Envision Racing |
| 10 | Stoffel Vandoorne | DS Penske |
| 11 | Max Guenther | Maserati |
| 12 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Penske |
| 13 | Oliver Rowland | Mahindra Racing |
| 14 | Nico Mueller | Abt Cupra |
| 15 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan |
| 16 | Sergio Sette Camara | Nio 333 |
| 17 | Dan Ticktum | Nio 333 |
| 18 | Rene Rast | McLaren |
| NC | Edoardo Mortara | Maserati |
| NC | Sam Bird | Jaguar TCS Racing |
| NC | Norman Nato | Nissan |
| NC | Robin Frijns | Abt Cupra |
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