Car Barrel Rolls Down The Street In Shocking Crash During Formula E Opener

Formula E — the all-electric single-seater series — got its season underway in São Paulo, but there was a very scary moment that saw one of the drivers going airborne, then barrel-rolling down the street.

Saturday's São Paulo E-Prix around the streets of the Brazilian city was the first race of the 2025-26 season, which will be the last with the series' current "Gen3" before it's replaced next season. It was also the first Formula E race for Formula 2 race-winner Josep 'Pepe' Maria Martí, who joins the grid this season with Porsche-powered Cupra Kiro alongside teammate Dan Ticktum.

Considering it was his first race weekend in Formula E, Martí qualified a fairly solid P14, but of course, being in the middle of the pack like that often puts you at a higher risk for getting caught in some nonsense.

Which Martí unfortunately did.

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Late in the race, a full-course caution came out, so drivers did what they're supposed to do when they see yellow and hit the brakes.

However, Martí didn't see the cars in front of him checking up in time, and he plowed straight into the back of Antonio Felix da Costa's Jaguar and went up and over it.

Fortunately, Martí was okay after that one because that was quite the shunt, as they say.

Certainly a testament to how much safer racecars are these days.

This incident brought out a red flag, and once the race restarted, it was a sprint to the finish with former series champ Jake Dennis of Andretti taking the first checkered flag of the season.

It was the second year in a row that a driver ended up on his roll-hoop in São Paulo, with Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein having a massive crash nearly a year ago to the day.

The next race on the Formula E schedule is the Mexico City E Prix on January 10, which uses a modified circuit at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the same track that Formula 1 visits each season.

After that, the series will head to the Miami International Autodrome (which surrounds Hard Rock Stadium) for the lone US race of the season on January 31.