Jake Dennis and Andretti have reiterated their commitment to each other after a period of time in which the 2023 Formula E champion was courted by other teams on the grid.
Dennis has a contract with Andretti which stretches to at least the summer of 2026 which will be a crossover point of the Gen3 and Gen4 rules sets of the all-electric world championship.
A combination of this fact and a volatile driver market, which is still ongoing for next season's grid line-up, had seen Dennis’ name associated with a possible move away from the team he has driven for five consecutive seasons.
The Race understands that Dennis and his representatives from the same ADD Management stable that represent Lando Norris and Zane Maloney had been approached by at least three other teams at various stages. These are believed to have been Jaguar, Nissan and Stellantis.
But speaking to The Race this week Dennis was clear on competing in a sixth Formula season at Andretti, saying that he was “super excited to get back into another season with Andretti, as I've been with them for quite some time now.
“Obviously there was some speculation, but ultimately it was never really in doubt that we were going to be going anywhere. I'm kind of just excited to sort of crack on with the final year of Gen3.”
“The talks which went on with the other teams are natural.
“It's bound to happen. But I have to say that Andretti was the only sort of goal I had going into next season and continuing there will be my main focus.
“We just need to try and get back to that level, what we were at in season nine. And I think we can do that.”
Dennis prioritises his Formula E programme over the course of the year but also competes in selected GT3 races in a Parradine Competition BMW M4.
Dennis also has a deal to work with Red Bull Racing in F1 where he contributes to its simulator work. He was even able to make an unlikely F1 weekend debut when he took over Max Verstappen’s Red Bull RB19 at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
How close did Dennis come to leaving?
The first noises of Jake Dennis seriously looking around at possible alternatives to Andretti started to flare up at the Miami E-Prix in April.
That noise started to vibrate through to Andretti team chief Roger Griffiths in the paddock, who confessed to The Race that such an exploration by a driver is “just sort of natural.”
“I won't say I completely endorse it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with those discussions,” adds Griffiths.
“Because I think sometimes the grass might always looks greener somewhere else. But quite often, when you actually get over to that other garden, you realise the grass is just as brown as it is where you've just come from.
“I think it's good for Jake to look around and see what's out there. More often than not, they come to the conclusion it's actually really, really good at Andretti. We take care of the people. We take care of the drivers here.”
Andretti is not unique in Formula E with a driver staying with a team or a manufacturer for so long. Pascal Wehrlein will enter his sixth season with Porsche at the end of this year. Jean-Eric Vergne will see his eighth consecutive one with Stellantis and Mitch Evans is expected to line-up for his tenth consecutive campaign with Jaguar this December.
But across the garage from Dennis the situation is very different. Since 2021 when Dennis made his debut for his present team, then known as BMW i Andretti, he has had five different team mates – Maximilian Guenther, Oliver Askew, Andrew Lotterer, Norman Nato and Nico Mueller.
This is one area which raises many questions. The most significant to Dennis is if this affects him at all. He doesn’t think so, particularly.
“From my side when I want to put my helmet on I really don't care who's next to me. I don't care if it’s Max Verstappen or if it's a rookie,” says Dennis.
“I think ultimately, the biggest thing is the consistency inside of the team, that's where I want us to build this a bit better of a foundation.”
In the current unpredictable Formula E paddock which still has several seats still officially unclaimed, Andretti feels like a team that wants to be more in charge of its own destiny now.
That appears very likely with a change to a new manufacturer for the Gen4 period. A deal with Nissan for that period is believed to be close to full agreement and could significantly influence both who is next to Dennis at the team for the immediate future and also the potential for Dennis to further extend his commitment to the team for 2026 and beyond.
