Race Report: 2025 Google Cloud São Paulo E-Prix
Event Notes
- Andretti Formula E began their Season 12 campaign in São Paulo, Brazil with an extended Free Practice 2 session after the opening day’s practice was cancelled due to technical difficulties with radio communications. Felipe Drugovich took the checkered in ninth, with teammate Jake Dennis in 14th.
- In Qualifying, Dennis advanced from the group stages and reached the Final Duel, initially losing pole to Pascal Wehrlein but inheriting the top spot after the Porsche driver’s penalty, marking the team’s 27th front-row start. On the other side of the garage, Drugovich showed strong pace with a purple first sector before a brush with the Turn 4 wall ended his group-stage progression.
- Dennis held position in the top 10 early while managing his energy, then used an off-sequence Attack Mode strategy to move back to the front and reclaim the lead on Lap 26 before controlling the one-lap restart to take the win.
- Drugovich also opted for a conservative opening phase to save energy, before activating late Attack Modes to propel him into fifth before two post-race penalties dropped him out of the points.
- Today’s victory in São Paulo was the team’s 12th Formula E win, 37th race led, 40th podium and 125th top-10 finish. With Dennis leading eight laps today, the team’s total laps led rose to 454.
- The 2025 Google Cloud São Paulo E-Prix featured two Safety Cars and a late Red Flag, though no additional laps were added to the 30-lap distance.
Race Results
Jake Dennis
No. 27 Andretti Porsche 99X Electric
P1
| Started | P1 |
| Standings | P1 (25 points) |
Qualifying
- Dennis was able to progress through to the Duels from group stage qualifying, beating Jaguar TCS Racing’s António Félix da Costa and Mahindra Racing’s Edoardo Mortara to advance to the Final Duel.
- The Brit lost out on pole position and three championship points to Porsche Formula E team’s Pascal Wehrlein however, inherited the top starting spot after the German received a three-grid drop penalty for wheelspinning in the pit lane.
- Dennis’ qualifying in São Paulo marked his 30th appearance in the Duels, 18th in the Semi-Finals and 13th in the Final, extending his lead as the driver with the most ever Final Duel appearances.
- The No. 27 driver also claimed his 16th front-row start.
Race
- Dennis remained in the top-10 for the opening phase of the E-Prix, dropping back from first to strategically save energy.
- Off-setting the British driver’s Attack Modes compared to the rest of the grid, Dennis was able to make his way back through the field and into the second place before the first Safety Car.
- Deploying his final Attack Mode on Lap 26, Dennis regained the lead after briefly losing position to rivals who activated earlier, and went on to take the checkered flag in first place.
- Dennis’ victory in São Paulo marked his seventh Formula E victory and his 24th career podium. His 25-point haul also places him to the top of the Drivers’ World Championship standings. Dennis also led eight laps to take his Formula E total to 261.
“We started in Pole Position and claimed the race win; what a day! Didn’t expect to be getting these points so early on in the season, but happy to be back to winning ways. It’s been a while since Jeddah, so I’m just super happy for myself and for the team. A lot of hard work through the winter from all of us and we’ve been rewarded with a win. A bit of time off now for Christmas and New Years, but we’ll be back in January to fight for the top spot again.”
Felipe Drugovich
No. 28 Andretti Porsche 99X Electric
P12
| Started | P17 |
| Standings | P12 (0 points) |
Qualifying
- Drugovich was looking strong in Qualifying, setting a purple first sector on his push-lap attempt. However, the Brazilian clipped the wall in Turn 4, ending his chances of progressing from the group stages.
Race
- Drugovich held steady at the rear of the field in order to save energy before taking a late Attack Mode, enabling the Brazilian to progress up into sixth.
- Thanks to a late Safety Car, the No. 28 driver was able to utilize his final Attack Mode on Lap 26 to fight his way back up through the field and take the checkered in fifth.
- Unfortunately, two post-race penalties dropped Drugovich out of the points.
“First of all, congrats to the team. As we’ve seen today, we have pace and that’s really great to see as we head into the season. There is still plenty we can work on and new things for me to learn over the next few races, but overall I’m happy. The day started well in Free Practice 2, getting to know the car and the track. In Qualifying, I over-pushed a little and clipped the wall in Turn 4 by a couple of millimeters. It’s a shame because I felt really good in the first three turns so kept pushing. As a result, we started the race from the back but we knew there would be opportunities for us to move forward. I think we did everything we could have done and it was going great until the Full Course Yellow. Without that and the late Red Flag, we could have easily achieved second. A shame, but we’ll take the positives and turn our focus to Mexico City in a few weeks’ time.”
Roger Griffiths
Team Principal
“What a day! We’ve taken the win in São Paulo at the first race of the season and hopefully, there will be many more to come. It’s been quite a rollercoaster of a day with a difficult Free Practice 2, but improvements were made for Qualifying which earned us the front-row start. It was a great race by Jake coupled with a super smart strategy from the team. We read the race really well and thoroughly deserved the win.
As for Felipe, he was unfortunate to clip the wall in Qualifying after setting a strong first sector. He made some great progress during the race and had we not had the Red Flag, I think there was a potential for a one-two there given the position we were in with the Attack Mode strategy. We then got caught out with a couple of unfortunate penalties which dropped us out of the points. But overall, a really strong race for him. He’s getting more experience under his belt and drove through the field in a really strong manner with decisive overtakes and a great ability to read the race.
I think it is going to be a super exciting season and it’s great to kick it off with a victory in Brazil. A big thank you to all of our Brazilian fans, you’ve given us amazing support and we look forward to having you with us throughout the rest of the season.”
