"Really pushed the boundaries" - Jake Dennis unhappy with Pascal Wehrlein in Jakarta E-Prix
Jake Dennis was left frustrated by Pascal Wehrlein’s resolute defence of the lead in the Jakarta E-Prix.
Pascal Wehrlein celebrates in front of Jake Dennis and Maximilian Guenther in Jakarta. (Simon Galloway / Formula E)
An aggressive move from Wehrlein held off the closest move from Dennis for the lead, with the Andretti Formula E driver having to defend from Maximilian Guenther and Stoffel Vandoorne as he slowed to avoid the leader.
Wehrlein was able to hold the lead to the chequered flag, with Dennis holding on for second.
Jake Dennis celebrates his second-place finish in Jakarta. (Simon Galloway / Formula E)
“Pretty annoyed to be honest,” said Dennis immediately after the E-Prix.
“You are obviously having a good season if you're annoyed with second, but the start lost me the race ultimately, we had way too much wheelspin on the dust and dropped back to fourth.”
“The manoeuvre with Pascal was ridiculous, I had to hit so much pressure to avoid hitting the back of him.”
“I don't know how he got away with that to be honest - it's ridiculous.”
“The other two guys did it perfectly, they left just us space on one car, which is the rule, and then Pascal just completely swerved all up to the wall and I had to slam on the breaks half way down the straight. He had already committed to lifting and at that point you have to leave space, and he didn't.”
Dennis continued his criticism of the race-winner in the post-race press conference.
“He put a lot of trust in me to hit the back of him and I put a lot of trust in him, which he in the end didn't, didn't really go by the book.”
“At least I know for tomorrow, but ultimately it was a bit on the limit. But yeah, we go again and we move on from this because there's nothing I can do now “
His criticism became more cryptic when he mentioned that his Andretti team would not be able to protest the result.
“We can't protest against them because they also have a Porsche powertrain. A bit ridiculous.”
Wehrlein refused to comment on the incident.
“Not much to contribute really,” said the Porsche driver.
“I don't have a lot to say there.”
The Formula E field returns for the second Jakarta E-Prix at 6.00pm on Sunday.
