Mahindra Racing and Nyck de Vries aced the strategy on a drying track to win the Tokyo E-Prix. This marks de Vries and the Indian team’s second win of the season after the Monaco E-Prix.

The chaotic race also flipped the title picture, with Andretti’s Jake Dennis taking the overall lead after a strong recovery drive from P17 to P3 in the race.

1. De Vries wins, 0.683sec ahead of Cassidy
2. Dennis takes championship lead after podium finish 

Nyck de Vries wins Tokyo E Prix for Mahindra

With heavy rainfall just before the race start, Mahindra opted to split the strategy between its two drivers. Polesitter Edoardo Mortara started the race on what, at the time, appeared to be the favourable wet setup. De Vries, meanwhile, had his tyre pressure set up for dry conditions.

The drying track ultimately played into de Vries’s favour. He activated his final Attack Mode to move into the lead on Lap 28. A late-race Red Flag made it a one-lap dash to the chequered flag, and de Vries held his ground to take victory. This is the first time since the 2017/18 season that Mahindra has won two races in a single season.

“We were a little bit lucky today. We opted for a drying track, and in hindsight, that worked out in our favour. We got a poor start, but I think it was very important to save energy at the beginning of the race because once the track dried, you needed it,” de Vries said.

“We had some more luck at the end with the red flag because Jake [Dennis] was coming on strong in Attack Mode. I’m very happy and proud of the team who executed a great race to get our second win of the season.” 

Citroen opted for a similar strategy that paid off, with Nick Cassidy finishing second, followed by Andretti’s Dennis.

Mortara crashes out

It was a race of mixed fortunes for Mahindra. Polesitter Mortara remained in podium contention for a large chunk of the race but collided with Joel Eriksson on Lap 32, causing a pile-up on track and triggering the Red Flag.

“It’s a disappointing result on a day when we showed quite a lot of performance. When you start from pole, and everything is fully wet, there’s very little to gamble,” Mortara explained.

“I started with the wet setup, and this wasn’t the right call. But fortunately, we split the strategy, and it worked out very well for Nyck [de Vries], so I’m very happy for the team.” 

2026 Formula E championship standings 

Dennis takes the overall championship lead after a difficult Tokyo E-Prix weekend for his rivals Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein. With just two more races to go, he holds a two-point advantage over Evans in the standings. Wehrlein, meanwhile, is three points behind Evans.

Mortara holds on to fifth place overall, while de Vries’s victory has moved him up to ninth place overall in the drivers’ championship.

The Tokyo round also saw Porsche wrap up the manufacturers’ title, winning it for the second season in a row. As for the teams’ championship, Jaguar currently holds the overall lead, 14 points ahead of Porsche. Mahindra is fourth overall, just one point behind third-placed Andretti.

Formula E will now head to London for the season finale on August 15-16.