While neither Jake Dennis nor Oliver Rowland managed to clinch a second FIA Formula E World Championship title, there was still plenty for British fans to cheer at last weekend’s dramatic double-header season finale at ExCeL London.
Rowland’s hopes of back-to-back crowns were dashed by a lowly finish in Saturday’s opening race, but Dennis produced a fighting drive to finish second behind his closest title rival, Pascal Wehrlein, keeping the championship battle alive heading into Sunday’s decisive finale.
The intense final race was a predictably bruising encounter around the compact 1.3-mile ExCeL circuit, the shortest and one of the narrowest tracks on the Formula E calendar.
Starting from a lowly qualifying position, Dennis bided his time, conserving power for a late charge. For a brief moment, his strategy appeared to be paying dividends as he powered his way into the top 10, while Wehrlein slipped back through the pack and out of the points in the closing laps.
Then, just as the title appeared to be swinging Dennis’ way, he was caught out in a midfield melee. The resulting damage to his Andretti car brought his race – and his championship campaign – to a premature end.
With Dennis’ afternoon over, fellow Briton Taylor Barnard was making his move at the sharp end of the field. The DS Penske driver produced a superb late charge, muscling past both pacesetting Mahindras in the final few laps to claim his first Formula E victory in front of a passionate home crowd.
Barnard’s breakthrough not only brought the Gen3 and ExCeL eras of Formula E to an exciting conclusion, but also saw him make history as the youngest Formula E race winner at 22 years and 76 days.
A new, faster Gen4 racer will be introduced for next season, when the UK’s Formula E round will move to Brands Hatch in May 2027.
“Winning a race is an incredible feeling – even more so to do it in front of the British public,” admitted a delighted Barnard as he fought back tears. “That was the most gruelling final lap of my entire career. I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous. After such a difficult season, the team has done an immense amount of work. We’ve put in countless hours in the simulator, exhausted ourselves and gone sleepless all year. A huge thank you to the team. I’m truly speechless!”
Like both Dennis and Rowland, Barnard is a graduate of the Motorsport UK Academy, the initiative established to fast-track the pathway of high-potential drivers into the upper echelons of motorsport.
He was selected for the Team UK programme in 2024, having already progressed into single-seaters after winning notable titles in British, European and World karting championships.
Thereafter, Barnard became a winner in F4, FIA F3 and FIA F2 before switching to Formula E at the start of the 2024-25 season.
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