Jake Dennis is a name that has been floating around motorsport for a long time now, with the Formula E driver rising through the ranks year after year.
Starting in karting aged eight, Dennis showed he could compete from the off, winning the South West Cadet championship title in 2005 and finishing third in the Shenington Club Championship the year after. Following this success, he was already being watched by big names, and in his early teenage years, received backing from an organisation named Racing Steps Foundation. The group would also support names such as Oliver Rowland (now in Formula E) and Jack Harvey (Indycar). By 2010, Jake had won the MSA Super 1 British Junior Championship and CIK-FIA U18 World Championship.
His introduction to single-seaters came the year after these wins when he raced for Fortec Motorsport in the 2011 InterSteps championship. He would continue his form in this category, dominating the season and winning eight races. However, in the off-season, he only finished 19th in the Formula Renault UK Finals Series. This would only be a minor setback though. In 2014, the youngster joined the FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Carlin Motorsport, a household team name for up-and-coming racers.
GP3 next, and Dennis competed for Arden International in 2016, finishing fourth in the season with two race wins. With his potential being shown off, Red Bull took Jake in as a development driver for 2018, and this is still a role that he holds today. Before reaching Formula E, he went under the radar for a couple of years, competing in categories such as the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup in 2018 and 2019, and the European Le Mans Series (LMP2) in 2020 as a guest driver.
Then, Formula E came calling. The move could definitely be seen as somewhat of a second chance for the Briton, with Formula One seats being scarce. For the 2020-2021 season, he joined BMW Andretti motorsport, racing alongside German driver Maximilian Günther. And what a solid debut season it was for him, finishing third in the drivers’ standings with two victories and a pole position, placing as the highest rookie for the season.
The season after, Jake remained with the team, although BMW withdrew. This time, his teammate was Oliver Askew. Although he wasn’t as successful as the previous season, he still came sixth in the standings, with a single race victory after two pole positions. The win would come in his home E-Prix of all races, with a brilliant performance in London.
Now, in 2022-2023, Jake is still with Avalanche Andretti and is showing off somewhat of an early title challenge, winning the first race of the season in Mexico City and scoring three podiums. Having not won a title since 2012, he will be determined to make something of the Formula E season, with a car that looks competitive. It is sure to be a dramatic year though, with the Gen3 cars showing off some brilliant racing thus far.