Jake Dennis has admitted he will be slightly more cautious against drivers who are not in the title fight at the 2023 Rome E-Prix.
Dennis leads the Formula E drivers’ championship by one point from Nick Cassidy, with Pascal Wehrlein a further 15 points further adrift.
A double-header in Rome and another two races in London on July 29-30 remain in the 2023 season.
“I will be a bit more cautious about drivers who aren’t in the championship I’d say because they could be quite high risk and have nothing to lose, so they can afford to be like that,” Dennis told Total-Motorsport.com.
“This track is quite difficult to overtake at so if they are close or do a dive bomb, I will be a bit sensible with that.
“I think we could have a pretty competitive. We have been competitive at others tracks that are quite tight and twisty.
“I’m feeling confident we can qualify in the top five. Whether we have the best car remains to be seen, but I don’t see why not.”
Cassidy not getting ahead of himself
Cassidy beat Dennis in a chaotic Portland E-Prix last time out to relight his title challenge following a disappointing weekend in Jakarta.
The Envision driver says he’s felt more comfortable within himself this season, which has contributed to his success.
“Four races is still a lot, a lot can change,” said Cassidy. “We are not getting ahead of ourselves.
“The most exciting tracks have been Cape Town, Sao Paulo and Hyderabad. This is up there with them. I like this kind of circuit. It’s balls to the walls. With these cars it should be exciting and a lot of fun.”
Asked by Total-Motorsport.com if he will change his approach if going wheel to wheel versus his championship rivals, he added: “My style of racing has been aggressive, so that will stay the same.”
Evans: I need to bridge the gap this weekend
Mitch Evans is 32 points behind championship leader Dennis ahead of Rome but was in a league of his own in the Italian capital in 2022.
Evans says he needs to make inroads in the double-header to give himself a realistic chance of winning the title in London.
“There’s a lot of points up for grabs,” said Evans. “In my position I need to bridge the gap a bit this weekend. All the guys have been scoring really well at the same time as me, so I’ve not been able to make an impact. But we are still there which is the main thing.
“One good race for me and one bad race for Jake, things change quick. Obviously I would rather be in his position but there are opportunities to come. I definitely need a strong weekend thought to take the title fight to London.”
The Jaguar driver added: “I think it’s a track that suits me but we still need to make sure the car is in the right window.
“There’s been a few surprises this, so history is fantastic to come here after two wins but you can’t be naive to think it’s copy and paste. I’m feeling good. It’s a different time of year, normally we come here when it’s cooler. So that will change things.”
