Jake Dennis has put Andretti in control of the Sanya E-Prix start after beating team-mate Felipe Drugovich to pole and locking out the front row for the American squad.
The result gives Andretti its sharpest chance yet to shape Round 11 of the 2025-26 Formula E season, with Dennis delivering a 1m05.502s in the final duel after Drugovich ran deep at Turn 4. It also keeps championship leader Mitch Evans in immediate striking range from third, ensuring Sanya’s return to the calendar does not become a simple two-car Andretti story.
According to Formula E’s official qualifying report, Dennis and Drugovich held off Evans and Dan Ticktum to secure Andretti’s first Formula E front-row lockout.
Andretti front row changes Sanya picture
Dennis’ pole arrived after a composed run through the duels. He beat Pascal Wehrlein in the quarter-finals despite brushing the wall late in the lap, then advanced when Ticktum misjudged his braking at Turn 9 in their semi-final.
Drugovich’s route to the final was just as important for Andretti. The Brazilian topped Group A, then removed Nick Cassidy and Evans from the pole fight, backing up the confidence he carried from his maiden Formula E podium in Monaco.
That matters because ReadMotorsport’s Sanya title examination framed this weekend as a direct test of Jaguar’s control of the championship picture. Evans has avoided the worst of the damage by qualifying third, but he now has two Andretti cars ahead of him on a circuit where track position and energy discipline are likely to be closely linked.
Mahindra had looked threatening through practice, something already clear from the team’s pace in Friday’s Sanya warning to Jaguar, but Edoardo Mortara missed the duels after ending Group A only sixth. Wehrlein did progress from Group B after topping FP2, only to fall to Dennis in the quarter-finals.
Formula E awards three points for pole under its championship points structure, giving Dennis an immediate reward before the race begins at 15:05 local time. More importantly, it gives Andretti clean air and a tactical lever at the front.
For a grid where Sanya’s return has already been framed as a new test for half the field, Andretti has turned unfamiliarity into opportunity. Now Dennis has to convert pole into the kind of result that makes the rest of the title fight look over its shoulder.
