– Formula E is trying something new this weekend, which isn’t that new at all. The Tokyo E-Prix in Japan is taking place under floodlights. While this hasn’t happened in the electric racing series’ previous appearances on the Tokyo street circuit, it has happened at other races. For example, there have already been Formula E races under floodlights in Saudi Arabia (both in Riyadh and Jeddah).
Read more DTM Race Oschersleben 1: Preining wins, Thiim loses DTM lead
This weekend’s Tokyo E-Prix is a double-header, meaning an event with two races. The start time for both races has been set for 8 PM local time (1 PM CEST). In Saturday’s race, Dan Ticktum (Kiro) secured the victory with a spectacular maneuver.
At the start of the last of 36 laps, Ticktum was directly behind long-time leader Jake Dennis (Andretti) and directly in front of Nick Cassidy (Citroen) in second place. In the last sector of the final lap, however, Ticktum still overtook Dennis because the Andretti driver was struggling with a temporary loss of power.
Thus, it was not Dennis, but Ticktum, who took the victory. It is the first win of the season for both himself and the Porsche customer team Kiro. Citroen driver Nick Cassidy brought home third place, completing the podium (Result: Race 1 in Tokyo).
Jake Dennis wins the start from pole
Polesitter for the first of the two races this weekend was Jake Dennis, while Andretti teammate Felipe Drugovich started last. While Dennis won the start and entered the first corner first ahead of Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra), there was a collision directly behind them between Antonio Felix da Costa (Jaguar) and Nico Müller (Porsche) on the very first lap.
Following the collision, Müller pitted at the end of the first lap. Zane Maloney (Abt-Lola) also turned directly into the pit lane. Both continued the race with a large deficit. However, more than 18th place (Müller) and 19th place (Maloney) was not achievable.
Dan Ticktum overtakes Jake Dennis on the last lap
Halfway through the distance, light rain set in, but it did not have a lasting effect on the race. Because it was Race 1 of a double-header, there were the mandatory fast-charging pit stops (Pit-Boost).
Read more «I’m stopping now!»: Thiim loses his temper after Preining’s pole, BoP changed
And these pit stops certainly affected the order in the leading group. Jake Dennis lost the lead, Dan Ticktum took it over. Edoardo Mortara and Nick Cassidy also temporarily passed Dennis, but both were overtaken by the Andretti driver back on track.
Seven laps from the end, Dennis also found a way past Ticktum, regaining his lead from the first half of the race. On the last lap, however, Ticktum managed to counter, making him the one to celebrate as the winner of the first of two races this weekend.
Pascal Wehrlein loses championship lead after collision
Pascal Wehrlein, who came to Japan as the championship leader, started from eighth place and thus from the fourth row. At the halfway mark of the race, Wehrlein had a collision with Antonio Felix da Costa. The Portuguese driver in the service of the Jaguar team lost a few positions. Wehrlein came into the pits, where he ultimately retired from the race.
With his first retirement of the season, Wehrlein lost the top position in the 2025/26 Formula E overall standings to Mitch Evans (Jaguar), who, although he only started from P16, finished in P4 after a late comeback. Evans goes into the second race of the weekend with a three-point lead over Wehrlein and 14 points over Jake Dennis.
Race 2 of the Tokyo E-Prix will start again on Sunday at 1 PM CEST, converted to Central European Time.
Read more FT3 Hungary: Will qualifying be more exciting than expected after all?
