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HANKOOK DEBRIEF: Five things we learned in Tokyo

FEATURE 27 Jul 2026 4 Mins

Championship Journalist Katy Fairman picks her five top stories from a weekend under the lights in Tokyo.

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Feature by Katy Fairman

Tokyo’s first night races are complete, with two different winners and a whole shake-up to the drivers’ World Championship standings. Here’s five of the biggest talking points.

Ticktum’s last-lap victory

Across Saturday's race, Round 14, Andrettis’ Jake Dennis looked set to take the victory after leading most of the race from the Julius Baer Pole Position. In his stunning special chrome Liberty Walk livery, the Brit had kept fellow compatriot Dan Ticktum (CUPRA KIRO) behind who promised not to try any moves, but just three corners from the chequered flag Ticktum pulled off a stunning, high-stakes overtake to snatch his second Formula E win in dramatic fashion.

It turns out Dennis had overconsumed his energy, suffering a small powercut which meant Ticktum could rocket past and secure the win. It comes at a great time for Ticktum, who has confessed he’s ‘open’ to opportunities next year as his seat looks in doubt at CUPRA KIRO.

Mahindra back at the top

Weather played havoc in Sunday’s wet race, with Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries taking his second win of the season – tying Mahindra’s best result in a Formula E season – after earlier claiming victory in Monaco.

After a multi-car pileup triggered a late red flag, the race came down to a wild one-lap sprint restart. Jake Dennis had been charging through the pack, saving his final ATTACK MODE until the end of the race but lost all momentum when the race was stopped for the incident. Instead, de Vries held back Nick Cassidy (Citroën Racing) and Dennis for his sixth career win.

Emotional podiums for Citroën

Following the tragic loss of Citroën’s Team Principal Cyril Blais earlier in the week, Nick Cassidy delivered two massive performances for the team. Cassidy drove brilliantly, managing two aggressive races from deep in the grid to secure back-to-back podium results – a third place Saturday and one better for second on Sunday.

“I don't really know how to feel,” Cassidy explained after Round 14 on Saturday, “because Japan's been a very special place for me and where I've built my career. I've just wanted a great weekend and great results for me since we started coming here. It's hard in a way, I want to celebrate and in another way I was breaking down.”

Massive drivers' championship shake-up

Heading into the weekend, Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) held the championship lead and was the one to beat. But, that quickly unraveled on Saturday, when an incident with his former teammate Antonio Felix da Costa broke his suspension and took him out of the race. The move resulted in Wehrlein getting a 10-second time-penalty, which he was able to serve once the team had mended his car and sent him back out.

A wet-setup mistake on Sunday left him out of the points completely, with no points added to his tally all weekend and dropped him down to third with two rounds to go – five points off leader Dennis.

Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) briefly claimed the title lead on Saturday, but damage to his car on Sunday ended any chances of leading the table once the weekend was over. That is now in the hands of Jake Dennis, who vaulted himself to the top of the Drivers’ Standings as the grid heads into the London finale.

Porsche crowned Manufacturers' Champions

Thanks to a no-score from Jaguar TCS Racing on Sunday, and the victory from CUPRA KIRO and podiums of Dennis, Porsche wrapped up their first World Championship title this weekend. The German manufacturers, who are celebrating 75 years of motorsport, have retained their championship status thanks to themselves and their customer teams KIRO and Andretti.

“A big thank you to our development team, the factory team and our customer teams, who helped Porsche secure a second Manufacturers’ World Championship title,” Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E said about the accomplishment.

“I’m really proud of everyone involved in this project. On our side, we came away with four valuable points thanks to Nico’s seventh-place finish. It could have been more after making the right call to switch to dry tyre pressures, but the time lost in the pits due to a procedural error ultimately limited us to seventh. Without that, he could have been in the fight for the win or a podium. On Pascal’s side, it was another tough day. However, it’s still all to play for.”

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