HEAD TO HEAD: The title rivals heading into the London finale

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HEAD TO HEAD: The title rivals heading into the London finale

The fight for the title has been a story of twists and turns in Season 9. Avalanche Andretti's Jake Dennis heads into the double-header weekend with a target on his back. Here's what the Brit needs to do to wrap up the World Championship in his home race, and what his rivals must do to prevent him.

dennis podium rome

It all comes down to this, the championship challengers have been whittled down to just four contenders heading into the season finale double-header in London.

There's 58 points up for grabs over the weekend, Avalanche Andretti's Jake Dennis heads into his home race in the lead but is being chased by Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing), Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) and Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche).

1st: Jake Dennis, 195 points

Dennis arrives into his home race with a 24 point advantage over second place in the standings. Should he finish Saturday's race with at least a 30 point advantage, he will be crowned the Season 9 Champion.

All Dennis has to do is score just six points more than Cassidy, and not be outscored by Evans by 15 points, or Wehrlein by 20 then the championship crown is all his.

The Brit stamped his authority with a clear message in the second race in Rome, collecting maximum points for the second Grand Slam of his Formula E career (pole, leading every lap and clocking the fastest lap on the way to victory).

Rome motw Dennis grand slam

Where Dennis has been at his strongest has been with his commanding consistency, he set a new Formula E record for the most podiums in a season which currently stands at nine - the previous record was set in 2022, by that season's champion, Stoffel Vandoorne.

What is important for the chasing trio is that his lead is still less than the points for a single race win...

2nd: Nick Cassidy, 171 points

The closest of the challengers is Cassidy. The New Zealander is having one of his best seasons to date in Formula E, with one race win more than Dennis and seven podiums to his name, the Envision Racing driver is in the perfect position to keep the fight going right until the very end.

After Rome, Cassidy went from a five point lead over Dennis to that 24-point deficit. But the Envision Racing driver has been one of the strongest across energy demanding races, of which we can expect two of this weekend. All three of his wins have come from energy zapping races, and from further down the order - eighth in Berlin, ninth in Monaco and from 10th in Portland.

The Jaguar power behind his Envision machine has demonstrated excellent efficiency, and qualifying was an area where Dennis has had an advantage over his nearest rival. But Cassidy did appear to unlock something last time out in Rome, finishing second to take his best grid position of the season.

Cassidy is looking to be in a prime position to pile on the pressure to Dennis this weekend. But there will also be on eye on the Teams' title for the Envision squad, as they're leading two factory outfits in the shape of TAG Heuer Porsche and Jaguar TCS Racing.

3rd: Mitch Evans, 151 points

After a slow start to the season, Evans has been climbing the order, two victories on the bounce in Sao Paulo and Berlin followed up by a maximum points haul in Rome - his fourth victory in the Italian capital to really put down his claim on that city.

mitch evans rome podium

That Saturday win was vital to his championship hopes, moving the Jaguar TCS Racing driver up to third in the standings and within 20 points of the leader. However, a costly collision in race two means that Evans is now 44 points off Dennis and will need to close down that gap to at least 15 points to stay in contention going into the final race on Sunday.

Evans has been in this position before, he's been in contention for the title from the past two seasons. Berlin ended suddenly, and Evans won't be looking at a repeat of that big shunt in Berlin, when a technical issue saw him stranded on the grid and hit from behind.

It's more hopeful to look back just under 12 months ago, when the New Zealander was victorious in the penultimate race in Seoul last season to keep the title alive going into the very last race.

4th: Pascal Wehrlein, 146 points

Wehrlein started the season strong with a run of three podiums, including a double victory in Diriyah. However, despite holding the standings lead for the longest period this season, the TAG Heuer Porsche driver has seen this slip from his grasp.

Wehrlein podium Diriyah

A return to the top step in Jakarta reignited his championship challenge, but the German has scored 61 fewer points than Dennis over the last four races and has gone from the lead in the championship to a 49-point deficit.

Like Evans, the Porsche driver might need a lot to go his way on Saturday to stay in the fight. Wehrlein needs to gain at least 20 points on the championship lead on Saturday or else he will be eliminated from title contention going into the final day.

But whatever happens, the odds going into the season finale double-header are in Dennis' favour, but as this is Formula E anything can happen and the stage is set for a fascinating finale in London.