Formula E: Jake Dennis's victory and Pepe Marti's podium

      The Formula E race on the urban track on the Chinese island of Hainan promised to be hot in every sense – the air temperature reached +33 degrees by the start, and the asphalt heated up to 64 degrees.

      Moreover, starting from the second row were drivers known for their aggressive racing style – Mitch Evans and Dan Ticktum, and it was quite expected that they would immediately attack the Andretti duo, who occupied the entire front row after qualifying.

      However, Jake Dennis and Felipe Drugovich managed to hold their positions, while Pascal Wehrlein quickly overtook two competitors and reached the top five. Oliver Rowland also gained a couple of places and was already running in seventh.

      Evans and Ticktum remained in the positions from which they started, i.e., third and fourth. On the fourth lap, the Brit tried to overtake the championship leader, but Mitch stayed ahead. Rowland gained another position, overtaking Nick Cassidy.

      But Wehrlein was the most active, as by the seventh lap he had already begun to attack Evans, overtook him, and on the next lap managed to pass Drugovich, after which he started to pressure Dennis. Jake couldn't counter the speed of the Porsche electric car on the straight, and the leader of the race changed.

      However, not for long: soon the drivers began to activate the Attack Mode one after another, which requires leaving the racing line and entering a special zone, causing some to temporarily lose positions while others moved forward, and since the peloton remained quite tight, the hustle on the track only increased.

      It was also evident that the front wing on Edoardo Mortara's car was severely damaged and was clearly wobbling – on one of the previous laps he had collided with Rowland's Nissan, but he was in no hurry to pit for a new nose cone.

      By the 16th lap, he was already running second, with Cassidy leading, but both were soon overtaken by Wehrlein, who returned to the first position; however, on the 18th lap, Mortara temporarily took the lead in his damaged red Mahindra electric car.

      But on the next lap, the race was stopped with red flags due to Mitch Evans crashing into Zane Maloney's Lola in turn 9, which in turn blocked the racing line for Dan Ticktum, whose car had also sustained damage to the front wing by that time. Since several cars crashed into them from behind, a pile-up instantly formed in turn 9.

      Under the red flags, the peloton returned to the pits, the marshals began to restore order on the track, and several teams hurried to replace broken nose cones on their cars and fix other issues. Although it was clear that not everything could be repaired in time, particularly, Evans' Jaguar had a broken diffuser and rear wing. It was no surprise that Mitch remained in the pits when it was time for the restart.

      The restart was given from a standstill, and in the front row were again Dennis' and Drugovich's cars, with two Porsche electric cars, i.e., Wehrlein's and Nico Müller’s, in the second row.

      But when the battle on the track resumed, Oliver Rowland activated Attack Mode and, thanks to the power boost, began to overtake opponents one by one, reaching the first position by the 23rd lap. However, it also helped that others were also leaving the racing line to activate Attack Mode, one of whom was António Félix da Costa, Evans' teammate at Jaguar. He took the lead on the 25th lap, while Rowland chased him, holding off Müller’s pressure.

      With ten laps to go, it could be predicted that the race would continue to be chaotic until the very end, and the fate of victory would only be decided in the final minutes.

      On the 27th lap, Norman Nato, Rowland's teammate, lost control in turn 3, crashed into the right barrier at high speed, and his accident caused yellow flags to be waved.

      At the next restart, which occurred a couple of laps later, the top five looked like this: da Costa led, followed by Rowland, Müller, Wehrlein, and Dennis.

      Rowland activated Attack Mode again, so he initially lost a couple of positions but soon regained them and took the lead. Around the same time, it became known that the stewards had imposed 5-second penalties on da Costa and Wehrlein for collisions with opponents in earlier stages of the race.

      It was Dennis' turn to activate the power boost again, allowing him to return to the lead three laps before the finish, and he tried to create a gap from his pursuers. It could be said that he succeeded, as da Costa was already almost five seconds behind him, and he was also supposed to receive penalty seconds.

      But on the penultimate lap, yellow flags appeared on the track again – this time due to Rowland's crash! The battle was neutralized, and the finish was getting closer. Only on the last lap, or rather, just a few corners before the checkered flag, the race resumed, although it was merely a formality.

      In the end, the Andretti drivers secured their team's very first winning double. Jake Dennis won the race, Felipe Drugovich took second place, repeating his best achievement in Formula E, while third place, after penalties received by others, went to Pepe Marti, who started from a distant 18th position.

      It seemed that Nick de Vries should have moved up to fourth place, but he was also penalized after the finish, resulting in da Costa ending up in fourth place in the final standings, Müller in fifth, and the Dutch Mahindra driver dropping to sixth.

      Overall, the events of the Sanya ePrix once again confirmed that in terms of unpredictability, Formula E probably leads the world of motorsport, with only NASCAR being able to compare, but their races last much longer. In the electric series, in less than an hour, so much happens on the track that it is simply impossible to keep track of everything.

      * – After the race, Felipe Drugovich received a 5-second penalty, which moved him from third to fifth place, Pepe Marti moved up to second, and Nick de Vries to third.

      In two weeks, on July 4 and 5, a double-header will take place in Shanghai – these will be the 11th and 12th races of the season, in which, despite today's troubles, Mitch Evans still leads.