RACE REPORT: 2026 Jeddah E-Prix I
Race Notes
- Ahead of the 2026 Jeddah E-Prix, it was announced that the Saudi Arabian race would not be the only night race in Season 12, as the Toyko doubleheader returns this year as a pair of night races, making it the first time the all-electric series has raced after dark on the streets of Japan.
- The first doubleheader under the lights of Season 12 got underway in Jeddah yesterday with Free Practice 1, which saw Jake Dennis finish the session in third, while teammate Felipe Drugovich finished 14th.
- Ahead of Round 4’s qualifying session, Dennis improved to second in Free Practice 2, contributing to a top-three lockout for the Porsche-powered cars. Following a Red Flag period brought out by Nissan Formula E team’s Oliver Rowland for clipping the barrier at Turn 16, Drugovich was able to set a lap time good enough for ninth.
- Both Andretti Formula E drivers were unable to progress into the Duel stages of Qualifying in their respective groups, resulting in Dennis starting the E-Prix from ninth and Drugovich from 17th.
- The start of the 2026 Jeddah E-Prix I was aborted after Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries suffered an issue during the grid formation sequencing, preventing him from engaging drive.
- Both Andretti Formula E drivers were able to gain positions during the opening lap of the E-Prix before a collision between Cupra Kiro’s Pepe Martí and Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E team’s Zane Maloney on Lap 2 resulted in a Full Course Yellow that eventually turned into a Safety Car, lasting two laps.
- The No. 27 car opted for an early PIT BOOST and Attack Mode strategy, which elevated Dennis into second after everyone had taken their mandatory stop. However, cars that had saved their Attack Mode for the closing stages of the E-Prix were able to utilize their extra power, resulting in Dennis dropping to ninth when he took the checkered.
- Drugovich opted for the reverse strategy given his starting position, electing to take a late PIT BOOST to conserve energy and spend it during the latter half of the race. After his mandatory stop, the Brazilian was unable to make the most of his six-minute Attack Mode due to a blockage in his radiator duct that impacted cooling efficiency. The No. 28 crossed the line in 15th.
- Dennis’ ninth-place finish marked Andretti Formula E’s 134th top-10 result and continues the team’s Season 12 point-scoring streak.
- Heading into tomorrow’s 2026 Jeddah E-Prix II, Andretti Formula E drops one place in the Teams’ World Championship standings to fifth, with Dennis also dropping down the Drivers’ World Championship standings to sixth.
Race Results
Jake Dennis
No. 27 Andretti Porsche 99X Electric
P9
| Started | P9 |
| Standings | P6 (39 points) |
Qualifying
- Dennis was first out in Group A of Qualifying, just narrowly missing out on a spot in the Duels by 0.066 hundredths of a second and finishing fifth overall.
Race
- The British driver was able to capitalize on the opening lap drama and gain two places up into seventh.
- Dennis took his mandatory PIT BOOST on Lap 17 and was one of only a handful of drivers to do so in the early stages of the charging window. Taking his only six-minute Attack Mode after his stop, the No. 27 driver emerged in second after the remaining competitors had pitted.
- Unfortunately, drivers who had saved their Attack Mode for the closing stages of the E-Prix were able to use their extra power to pass Dennis. As a result, the Brit took the checkered in ninth.
- With his ninth-place finish at the 2026 Jeddah E-Prix I, Dennis remains only one of four drivers (along with Pascal Wehrlein, Nico Mueller and Sébastien Buemi) to have scored Championship points at every race in Season 12. The result also marks the No. 27 driver’s 54th top-10 finish and takes his total Formula E career points to 700.
“Only taking home two Championship points today, which is not what we wanted. We ended up finishing exactly where we started. Of course the plan was to move forward during the race, however, I don’t think we got the strategy right today. We went one of two directions and ultimately ended up on the wrong side of the two choices and paid the price for it in those last six laps. We’ll come back stronger tomorrow and aim to do a better job.”
Felipe Drugovich
No. 28 Andretti Porsche 99X Electric
P15
| Started | P17 |
| Standings | P18 (0 points) |
Qualifying
- Drugovich improved on his final flying lap around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, though he was unable to make the Duels in an extremely tight Group B of Qualifying. The Brazilian finished ninth and was less than 0.200 tenths off the top four.
Race
- Like his teammate, Drugovich was able to move forward during the opening lap, battling to 16th. However, by Lap 7, he found himself down in 18th.
- The Brazilian opted for a late PIT BOOST strategy, stopping on Lap 20 to try to conserve energy early on to help elevate his on-track position after the mandatory stop.
- On Lap 28, Drugovich took his six-minute Attack Mode. However, debris stuck in the RESS radiator duct impacted the cooling efficiency, resulting in the Brazilian being forced to manage temperatures accordingly to prevent significant derating at the end of the race and ultimately compromising his overall performance. As a result, the No. 28 driver took the checkered in 15th.
“It was a frustrating race because the strategy had potential, but it just didn’t play out our way. From where we started, the late PIT BOOST made sense and we were hoping that the energy we saved would play into our hands at the end of the race. But then we picked up debris in the radiator duct, which pushed the battery temperatures too high and meant I couldn’t fully use the Attack Mode at the end. Without that extra power, it was always going to be difficult to recover positions. There’s still plenty to take from today and we’ll reset quickly and turn our focus on tomorrow.”
Roger Griffiths
Team Principal
“That’s not the race we had hoped for after a particularly strong showing from the Free Practice sessions, particularly with the No. 27 car. We had high expectations going into Qualifying with both drivers, but changing to a different set of tires on both cars left us scratching our heads as to where that performance went. We’re working with the FIA to see if there’s any potential discrepancies between sets of tires throughout the paddock as currently, we cannot explain the dramatic change in performance.
In the race, Jake was able to move forward and thanks to a clean PIT BOOST, brought us out into a strong position for the undercut. In hindsight it may not have been the right move, because it left Jake exposed running in clean air with a train of cars behind him. He ended up doing all the work and towing other cars along, inefficiently spending energy. As a result the early energy advantage we had built soon disappeared and we were struggling to hold on towards the end of the race.
For Felipe’s first PIT BOOST race with us, he was required to manage battery temperatures more than we had anticipated after we discovered some debris inside of the radiator of his car. That ended up having a detrimental impact on his race, so we were unable to progress as we had hoped. We’re going to come back fighting tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be able to turn it around.”
