Formula E’s return to Sanya stopped being an Andretti control exercise the moment the race fell into chaos.
The 2026 Lianxin Sanya E-Prix was still developing at the time of writing, but the shape of the story had already changed sharply: Mitch Evans had dropped a lap down after damage and a rear-wing change, Antonio Felix da Costa had moved Jaguar back into the lead fight, and the race had been broken open by a red flag and late full-course yellow.
Jake Dennis had started from pole after leading an Andretti front-row lockout, a result ReadMotorsport covered in Dennis pole gives Andretti Sanya control point. But the live race quickly became more volatile than the grid suggested.
Evans damage changes Jaguar’s race
According to the e-Formula.news live ticker from Sanya, Evans was involved in incidents before the red flag, with the FIA then ordering a rear-wing change on his Jaguar. That left the championship leader still running, but a lap down, after starting from third on the grid.
That was a brutal swing for Jaguar. Evans had arrived in Sanya with the chance to stretch his title advantage from the second row, while da Costa began deeper in the pack. Instead, the burden of salvaging the team’s day shifted towards da Costa, whose Attack Mode timing brought him into the lead battle after the restart.
The Turn 9 pile-up and Dan Ticktum’s contact with Evans were the flashpoints that turned a tactical race into a recovery contest. It also gave fresh relevance to the title pressure ReadMotorsport looked at in Sanya turns Formula E’s title fight into a 37-lap trap.
Andretti loses its clean route
Dennis and Felipe Drugovich initially held the clearest cards after qualifying, but the Sanya race exposed how fragile that front-row advantage was once Attack Mode and safety interruptions arrived. Pascal Wehrlein, Oliver Rowland and Nico Muller all became part of the lead fight, while da Costa’s late energy position gave Jaguar a way back into a race that had looked lost for Evans.
Formula E’s official qualifying report confirmed Dennis beat Drugovich in the final and Evans started third, while the championship’s points system keeps the stakes severe for every top-10 swing.
For a team already under examination in Sanya, as covered in Sanya begins Jaguar’s real Formula E title examination, this was no longer just a race about track position. It had become a damage-limitation test for Evans, a rescue mission for da Costa, and another reminder that Formula E’s title fight rarely lets a clean script survive contact with a street circuit.
