BRITISH racing champion Jake Dennis has given his verdict on where London’s Formula E race should move if the series can no longer race there.
Dennis, the 2023 champion of the series, was present at Circuit Paul Ricard last month for the reveal of the Gen4, which will be the machine used by Formula E from the start of next season.
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London’s Formula E race could be a thing of the past due to the next generation of cars in the series Credit: Getty
British racing champion Jake Dennis has given his verdict on where the Formula E’s race should move after London Credit: Splash
The new electric-hungry vehicle comes with a huge power boost, which has seen weight and size increase in tandem due to new tyres, engine and safety needs and means Formula E’s usual calendar featuring pop-up street races could be a thing of the past.
All fingers point to that including Great Britain’s E-Prix at ExCeL London in August, and it begs the question of where the series will relocate to.
According to Dennis, there are two leading candidates. The first is the home of Formula One and MotoGP, Silverstone. The second is the home of the British Touring Car Championship and former F1 track, Brands Hatch.
Speaking to JattvibeSport ahead of the Monaco E-Prix, he said: “It’s looking more and more like this will be the last race in London, which is a shame but completely understandable.
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“The Gen4 car just won’t fit around London, so we have to move away from there. The two clear winners right now are Brands Hatch and Silverstone. I think they’re very different in terms of track characteristics.
“F1 obviously races at Silverstone, MotoGP – it’s a lot more high-end motorsport – whereas Brands is a lot more like BTCC and they do a great job. I love BTCC, and I watch basically every race and they get a really good turnout.
“I don’t ultimately care where we end up. But I would say my preferred track is Brands Hatch.
“The circuit is amazing, but there would need to be some modifications made in terms of trying to then get enough (energy) regeneration into the car. The straights are a little bit too long at Brands with not enough braking.
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The Gen4 is bigger and more powerful, and means it likely cannot race on the narrower circuits like London Credit: Getty
Dennis gave the nod to Brands Hatch Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
He gave it the nod over F1 track Silverstone Credit: Getty
“Whereas Silverstone, there’s lots of different layouts, lots of different configurations you can do. We definitely wouldn’t race on the Silverstone GP circuit – that would make no sense.”
London is a track the 30-year-old has fond memories of, given he clinched his world championship with Andretti there in 2023.
Yet he admits the nerves from that race or even stepping into an F1 car for the first time are “very different” to when he got down on one knee to propose to fiancée, Lexi Grace Bossey, just before Christmas.
However, it turned out he had a secret helper to calm his nerves when he went to propose, the couple’s dog, Billy, who is as much a paddock celebrity in Formula E as F1 counterparts as Charles Leclerc’s pooch, Leo or Lewis Hamilton’s Roscoe, who sadly passed away last year.
He said: “I wasn’t actually too nervous when I got down on one knee with Lex. I was quite relaxed. I had the dog with us as well, so that always helps!
“You’re definitely a little bit nervous, but I’d say it’s a very different feeling to when you’re jumping in the car for the first time – say an F1 car with Red Bull – or when I was jumping in the car for the London Season 9 World Championship for the final race.
“It’s definitely a different experience, but still nervous in each way. I always get nervous before the racing anyway, so I’m a little bit used to it.
“It wasn’t too much of an issue. I was just hoping she would say yes, which ultimately she did, so yeah, it wasn’t too bad in the end.”
Jake Dennis: Quickfire questions
Favourite drink? Coke Zero
Favourite food or snack? I would say a good steak. That would be my death row meal – like a proper T-bone steak or something like that. I have it medium-rare. But since I moved over here everything’s a lot more rare, so now it’s medium over here, but in the UK medium-rare.
Guilty pleasure? I was going to say golf, but it’s not even guilty anymore, so I’d probably say a good Netflix series where I can just binge.
Last series binge-watched or one you’re currently watching? I watched Full Swing, but that was only four episodes, so it’s too short. I got into The Night Agent the other day, so I binge-watched that.
Favourite car? I’d say the Ford Mustang, the Shelby one. If you’ve ever seen Gone in 60 Seconds, the final car—that is probably my dream car. I’d never buy it, but I think it’s a badass car, yeah.
If you weren’t a racing driver, what would be your dream job? I would say a fighter pilot. Flying that – F-16s, being in the military, something like that. It used to be boots on the ground, like a Navy SEAL, but then my missus was like, “That is your worst job. Like, you hate the water, you hate the cold.” And I’m like, “Yeah, fair point.” So then now I’ve recently switched to fighter pilot. I think what they do is super cool. They obviously fly incredibly fast and get a bit of an adrenaline rush; I think it would suit me quite well.
Could we see you in the Red Arrows one day then? Definitely not! But I wouldn’t mind being a passenger for one, I think it’d be quite cool.
The week started with the backdrop of Andretti announcing it would no longer be a Porsche customer team – though Dennis insists he is happy with the direction his team are going, having signed a new contract to 2028 earlier this year.
Away from track, Dennis was getting his hands dirty doing some DIY at home at his and Lexi’s new Marbella home after moving from Monaco.
He has also been enjoying a spot of golf, although he has probably been in a better mood playing it than Rory McIlroy has been this week after the Masters winner was seen smashing his golf club on the floor and swearing.
But Red Bull simulator driver Dennis very much follows the Max Verstappen handbook in believing athletes get a hard ride when it comes to letting their emotions out.
He said: “It’s obviously a big moment if Rory or Scottie [Scheffler] or Max Verstappen or Lando [Norris] have an outburst… but maybe there could be a bit more leeway.
“For golf, it’s a tough one. I think they’re always doing a similar sort of thing – always trying to hit the same shot – and hit a lot of shots where if they don’t hit one good one, then they’re obviously quite hard on themselves.
“I try and put myself in that perspective of a racing driver – that’s like us making a mistake like every lap – and would I be annoyed with myself? Probably not. But ultimately, I get why the media jump on us and make something out of it.
“There’s only really been one or two times where I’ve lost my temper. I generally keep it within the team and don’t really put it out there to the public so much.”
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