Formula E talking points: British racers shine in London Car News

The British drivers shone as the ABB Formula E World Championship returns to London after a five-year hiatus, with BMW’s Jake Dennis and Mahindra’s Alex Lynn each claiming a victory in the double-title event.

While Dennis claimed a dominant victory, Lynn’s victory came under more controversial circumstances following the disqualification of race leader Lucas di Grassi for not serving a passing penalty.

Mercedes racer Nyck de Vries also shone on the tight and twisty 21-corner, 1.4-mile circuit that meandered around and through the Excel London exhibition center, scoring two second places to take the championship lead with just two rounds of the remaining season.

The two races both went in radically different ways: Saturday’s event was relatively calm while Sunday’s outing was utterly chaotic, with multiple clashes and controversial incidents.

We’ve already covered why the unusual London E-Prix circuit was a success, so here are the other major talking points for the weekend.

Dennis dominates the opening

Lynn caused a major upheaval by clinching pole position for Saturday’s race, but it was clear from the start that the 27-year-old Mahindra wasn’t the fastest car in the race. Lynn did an admirable job fending off Dennis early on, but then lost time with a blockage at Turn 10.

Dennis responded by using his attack mode boost to complete a series of qualifying laps, which was enough to keep him ahead of Lynn. From there, Dennis moved away from his rivals, becoming just the second driver this season to win multiple races and establishing himself firmly in the title fight.

De Vries loaded the lead after a disappointing qualifying, and a daring late-race move on Lynn secured him second place.

Lynn returns in force on Sunday

Lynn proved his pace on Saturday was no fluke by qualifying third behind Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne and Nissan’s Oliver Rowland.

The race was totally chaotic, with two first safety cars after incidents. During one of them, the Audi driver di Grassi went to the pits when the safety car emerged. He briefly stopped in his pit, but moved from ninth to first place due to the slow safety car and the short pit lane.

Stewards determined he hadn’t stopped long enough and awarded him a penalty, but the team – believing they had followed the rules – did not tell him to stop. Di Grassi continued in the lead, but after ignoring the penalty was eventually excluded from the race.

Running behind di Grassi, Vandoorne and Rowland then faced off for second place, which put Lynn in the lead. He then fought off de Vries for his first victory in Formula E after 40 race starts.