Winners and Losers from a frantic Sanya E-Prix
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 1 hour ago
- 7 min read
It was a chaotic and attritional return to Sanya for Formula E, with a red flag, the top four failing to score points, and plenty of incidents through the race. But who made DIVEBOMB’s cut for winners and losers after the Sanya E-Prix?
Winner: Andretti
There’s no doubt Andretti would be relishing their overwhelming success in Sanya, with both Jake Dennis and Felipe Drugovich locking out the front row in qualifying - before following up to do the same only hours later in the race (at least on track).
Andretti’s team principal Roger Griffiths reiterated the team’s strength in higher temperatures, with the conditions on Saturday playing perfectly into the team’s favour.
Despite being one of seven different names to have held the race lead, Dennis utilised his experience to stay in the mix, as he and teammate Drugovich remained towards the sharp end of the grid all race.
Utilising the crucial four minutes of attack mode towards the end of the race, both drivers pulled off their final act, rising into the top two once again.
Dennis remarked on this “very special moment” after the race, highlighting how such moments are rare in the championship. Sure enough, it marked Andretti’s first 1-2 in the championship - albeit short-lived.
Drugovich would lose his podium due to a post-race penalty, dropping him down to fifth on the road. Nevertheless, it was easily Andretti’s best race of the season. The American team have now climbed up to fourth in the standings, closing the gap to third-placed Mahindra to just 26 points now.
Loser: Evans and Wehrlein
On most days, Jaguar and Porsche would have been happier leaving with sixth and fourth on the road. Problem was, it wasn’t their lead driver in the standings scoring those points.
It was a rare off day when the leading quartet in the championship failed to score points - a rare sight in Formula E’s circles before. But this result would hurt two of the front runners more than anyone else.
For Wehrlein, it would sting even more, given he finished sixth on the road and lost a rare opportunity to close the gap to Evans in the standings.
His hopes of a points score would be dashed after a five-second penalty for his collision with Nissan’s Norman Nato at Turn 3. He would be passed by the likes of Nyck de Vries and Pepe Martí late in the race, both in attack mode. This result marks Wehrlein’s third non-scoring race in a row - coming after eight races in the points in 2026.
Evans would be more fortunate to see those closest in the championship fight not score anything, as his 19-point gap to Rowland still stands after Sanya. But it would once again be more gutting for the New Zealander, given he started the race a strong third and ran in the points for the race.
The Lap-19 collision with Zane Maloney at the tight Turn 9 hairpin undid his race. With race control deeming his rear wing too damaged to continue, Evans would be forced to pull in and retire from the race. He would leave Sanya gutted, yet relieved to see his lead still untouched.
Winner: Nyck de Vries
For much of his Sanya race, Nyck de Vries would have believed he was down and out of it. A poor start from sixth after damaging his front wing dropped him down to ninth, and eventually 10th.
The red flag on Lap 20, though, gave him a fresh start. Moving up to 11th on the grid, de Vries maintained a steady position for the next 10 laps, only sitting 13th at the time of taking his final attack mode onto Lap 34.
However, most of the top 10 had utilised their attack modes by then, with the Dutchman enjoying a stellar climb up to fourth on the road. Yet, he would lose out to a hard-charging Pepe Martí, but still came home in a strong fourth at the flag.
Despite stewards imposing a five-second penalty on de Vries for moving under braking earlier in the race, they reversed the decision after reviewing video evidence.
This decision, coupled with Drugovich’s penalty, promoted de Vries to third, ensuring Mahindra continued their streak of scoring at every weekend in Season 12.
Loser: Edoardo Mortara
As much as de Vries relished the opportunity to score yet another podium in Sanya, teammate Edoardo Mortara endured a scrappy race, running outside the top 10 for most of it.
Despite topping FP1 and showing strong pace through the weekend, Mortara would only netting a sixth-row start for the Sanya race.
While his race ran smoothly, Mortara damaged his front wing at the Turn 9 hairpin on Lap 11. Despite flapping around in a dangerous position, he wouldn’t be called in for any repairs, instead taking attack mode and rising to the race lead later on.
With Mahindra opting to change his front wing during the red flag, Mortara was demoted to the rear of the grid. Eventually, he would pull up outside the circuit, with his fire extinguisher coming on by itself.
Winner: Pepe Martí
After 11 rounds, you would most certainly have been surprised by the returns from both Cupra Kiro drivers so far. In stark contrast to Season 11, it’s rookie Pepe Martí who has outscored the more established figure in the team, Dan Ticktum (more on his season later).
Plenty of variables have affected both drivers, most notably the airborne shunt for the Spaniard in São Paulo. But the manner in which Martí has rebounded from that day’s incident remains one of the biggest feel-good stories in 2026.
Despite starting only 18th after his five-place grid drop in Monaco was applied, Martí applied his smarts to run up as high as 11th, utilising his attack mode early in the race.
He would find himself down in 19th as the team changed a broken front wing during the red flag period.
Martí left it late for a second attack mode activation. Using this extra power to the best effect, he would pass several drivers along the way, a final pass on de Vries earning him a second successive podium. The Spaniard was later promoted to his best result in second, adding more to a stellar maiden Formula E campaign so far.
Loser: Dan Ticktum
What on earth has been going on with Dan Ticktum’s season?
You might want to add more question marks at the end of that sentence. But it’s almost as surprising and mystifying to see Ticktum’s season keep falling away.
Ticktum’s Sanya weekend only amplified the frustration. Qualifying strongly once again, he would run in the top 10 before his first attack mode activation helped him even briefly take the lead.
However, his race would come undone once again by an incident. This time it was his own doing, clattering into Evans after misjudging his braking into Turn 6.
The incident dropped him into the clutches of the chasing pack, almost a prelude to what was to follow. Ticktum would find himself clattering heavily into the rear of teammate Martí in the Turn 9 melee, managing to reverse and drive off.
However, replacing the damaged front wing put him further back in 18th for the restart, and Ticktum ran a largely quiet race to finish 15th, last of the classified runners.
With only six races left in the season, it’s all on Ticktum to find the form that deserted him after Season 11, currently down in 14th in the standings with only 28 points.
Winner: Max Gunther
There has been little to smile about for DS Penske so far in Season 12. But Sanya brought light at the end of this long tunnel.
Qualifying down in 19th, Günther ran a quiet race, staying away from incidents on a day when several drivers came a cropper. Key for his race after the restart was being the only one to have both his attack modes intact.
While teammate Barnard would face an interruption during his six minutes of attack mode, Günther would run both his attack modes uninterrupted, with this helping him rise up to seventh by the end of the race.
Wehrlein’s penalty would bring Günther his joint-best result of the season, crucial points for DS Penske as the team looked to kick off the Asian leg on a high.
Loser: Nissan
It’s been a mixed season for Nissan, but Sanya brought little to smile about, as neither driver found the chequered flag on the day.
Despite starting outside the top 10, Rowland’s fast start got him well into the points. Yet, both Nissan drivers found themselves in the car park down at Turn 9, further down the order as others utilised their attack modes to get past.
Rowland and Nato would utilise their first attack modes to climb back towards the top, with the latter even running as high as fourth before Wehrlein’s opportunistic move put the Nissan man into the wall at Turn 3.
As for the reigning champion, he remained in the race for a victory, more so with António Félix da Costa’s five-second penalty. However, Rowland fell out of the podium spots to others in attack A high-speed crash into Turn 4 on the penultimate lap continued what has been a podium-or-nothing season so far in 2026.
Winner: Lola
Sanya brought a third points scoring event of the season for Lola, although their charge to the points was more challenging. With Lucas di Grassi facing a hefty 40-place grid drop for replacing components in Monaco, and Maloney stopping on track in qualifying, Lola had it all to do in Sanya.
An early attack mode for six minutes put Maloney in a brief glory run, as he ran a lofty third at one point, in Lola’s attempt to make up for tough qualifying positions.
However, he was involved right in the heart of the incident at Turn 9, which in turn worked for teammate di Grassi’s race. Using his attack mode, the Brazilian climbed up to as high as fifth at one point, and even in the running for a big result.
In the end, it would amount to 10th and 11th by the flag for the team, with di Grassi once again bringing home a point once again.
Loser: Nick Cassidy
With several drivers ahead not scoring in Sanya, you’d think it was a big open goal for Citroën’s Nick Cassidy to bank points, and even score a big result to close the gap to the top four.
His charge from sixth on the grid proved effective early on, even translating into a race lead briefly at one point.
Yet, this wouldn’t be a big result, as Cassidy pulled into the pits after the red flag, a problem with his brakes hitting his Citroën. It was the final nail in the coffin, after an earlier 10-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Time is running out for Cassidy if he does want to mount a comeback, having led after Mexico City and Miami, and end the French manufacturer’s first season on a high.
