Pepe Marti suffers horror airborne crash in São Paulo Formula E thriller

Jake Dennis converted pole position into victory in the season-opening São Paulo E-Prix, but the race was overshadowed by a horrific airborne crash for rookie Pepe Marti. 

Marti barrel-rolled in the closing stages of his Formula E debut after clipping two cars at high-speed, resulting in a lengthy red flag. 

Just 12 drivers finished the season-opener, with reigning world champion Oliver Rowland and Nick Cassidy completing the podium. 

It marked the second consecutive season in which a car has flipped in São Paulo, raising questions over the safety of the circuit. 

How the race unfolded

Jake Dennis started on pole position after Pascal Wehrlein received a three-place grid penalty, whilst reigning world champion Oliver Rowland was down in 13th on the grid. 

It was scorching hot on the grid, raising concerns over how the batteries would deal with the air temperature reaching 31 degrees Celsius. 

As the lights went out, it was Dennis who made a strong start from pole, whilst Nyck de Vries hit Mahindra team-mate Edoardo Mortara and Dan Ticktum – the latter had to pit for a puncture.

To add to Ticktum's woes, he received a drive-through penalty for his car being worked on in an unsafe condition. He then received yet another drive-through penalty for performing a burnout in the pit lane. Ticktum, ultimately, retired from the race.

De Vries, bizarrely, received no punishment for the incident, whilst Mortara received a five-second time penalty for failing to stop on the run-off before rejoining the circuit after being forced off.

Damage was also sustained by de Vries in the clash, with him being forced to pit due to a puncture on Lap 8 – he also received a drive-through penalty for his pit stop being unsafe. 

The rest of the field raced cleanly in the opening phases, particularly when positions changed constantly whilst attack mode was being taken. 

At the mid-race point, it was Wehrlein who has cycled his way into the lead, ahead of Dennis and Mortara – who still had a five-second time penalty – with Norman Nato and da Costa completing the top five.

Team-mates making contact became a theme, as Rowland struck Nato on Lap 17, causing a puncture for the Frenchman – the incident was placed under investigation. After receiving a new tyre, Nato pulled off at the first corner to retire.

As the race moved towards its climax, a shock safety car was required on Lap 23 after Lucas di Grassi forced Mortara into the wall and out of the race – di Grassi also retired due to damage. 

Crucially, when the safety car was triggered, the Andretti's of Dennis and Felipe Drugovich were the only duo within the top 10 still with an attack mode to take, handing the pair a huge advantage. The next with an attack mode left was rookie Pepe Marti in 11th.

The race restarted with four laps remaining, with both Andretti drivers having immediately taken attack mode. Dennis stormed into the lead easily, whilst Mitch Evans made an error and crashed out. 

However, it was soon red-flagged following Marti's terrifying crash, with the race, ultimately, finishing with a lap behind the safety car and then a one-lap dash, with Dennis ahead of Rowland and Cassidy.