Dennis still frustrated by car issues despite taking podium for Andretti

Jake Dennis’ third place in the first part of the Misano E-Prix on the outside looks like the end result of a good event, but once again the reigning Formula E world champion was at odds with his car.

The Andretti driver qualified 19th -- elevated to 18th as a result of a penalty for Jake Hughes -- but was able to finish on the podium thanks to his Porsche powertrain’s superior efficiency as Misano’s long straights led to a race where energy management became crucial. [ED. Dennis has since been elevated to second place in the final results due to the disqualification of winner Antonio Felix da Costa.]

“It's been it's been a struggle this weekend, there's no two ways about it,” Dennis admitted. “We've been one of the slowest cars over one lap but going into the race, I felt confident because you don't really use the brakes all that much, and that's something which I've been struggling with.

“So we managed to move forward. Yeah, not as efficiently as I would hope. There were some really expensive laps from my side and at one point, I was up on energy to a lot of cars around me then two laps later I’m massively down on everyone. So it was a bit just survival mode.”

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It was the second weekend in a row where Dennis finished on the podium, but unlike in Tokyo where he qualified fifth, it required quite the recovery drive. He downplayed that, however, saying it’s “never a good thing” to achieve that many overtakes in a race. “That means you're starting way too far back,” Dennis noted.

Despite the Andretti team’s ability to pull out a good result in races, Dennis remains concerned about its single-lap performance.

“It's a worry for us as a team right now,” he said. “We were probably the best (in) qualifying last year and now we're honestly one of the worst. It's been a difficult offseason in terms of changes happening inside of the team and stuff like this, and it's not always what I want in terms of the direction. I now don't feel great in the car compared to last year, and it's obviously proving that as well.

“Changes need to happen going into Monaco. Tomorrow will be fine, no matter where we start, but I don't see anything really happening. We really need to get on top of it. Because it's a disaster for us in qualifying at the moment.”

Andretti’s Porsche powertrain is considered one of, if not the best in the field in terms of efficiency, while ERT is regarded as the worst, yet that team managed to pull off a double points finish, which impressed Dennis.

“I have no idea how they have achieved that -- that's seriously impressive,” he said. “They should have one. He (Dan Ticktum) was two percent up on me at one point, and he was fifth.”

Maserati MSG Racing's Guenther leads Andretti's Norman Nato and Jake Dennis at Misano. Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

While he has equipment that’s the envy of the field, Dennis insisted that timing is just as crucial in these energy management races.

“It's never easy. If you don't go at the right point, then you can easily finish 10th or 11th,” he said. “Norman (Nato, his Andretti teammate) was having a great race and was up on energy to me and was ahead of me at that stage and ultimately came home in ninth. So you just need to be at the right place at the right time when the pace picks up, and we managed this.

“I felt like I had a really good read on that last year; we proved it again in Brazil, the first proper energy race, so (I’m) feeling confident for tomorrow.

“But yeah, right now, I've just tried to pick up the points where I can. But ultimately, we need to try and get to the bottom of my qualifying issues.”