Mitch Evans doesn’t feel like he got a fair shot at the Formula E title during Sunday’s championship decider in London.
Both he and Nick Cassidy went into Sunday’s second London E-Prix race with a chance at winning the title and pre-race, their Jaguar TCS Racing team had insisted both drivers would be free to race.
Cassidy led from pole and took his two Attack Modes early in the race, with Evans subsequently being asked to create a gap for his teammate at the front.
“Yeah, I was a bit surprised with some of the calls made in the race,” he said. “Otherwise the overall result would have been a lot different.
“I was told to stay behind Nick and let him do his Attacks, so it wasn’t fair.”
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Evans took his two Attack Modes late in the race, with Cassidy out of contention by then and eventual champion Pascal Wehrlein breathing down his neck. He missed his first Attack Mode activation, but while that was instrumental in Wehrlein getting past him, Evans said that getting it right still wouldn’t have been enough to secure the championship with energy targets close and Nissan’s Oliver Rowland getting by both in the activation zone to steal the race victory.
“Even if I finished in front of Pascal, second and third, he still would have won on countback,” Evans conceded. “I needed the win or another car between us.
“The Attack Mode is a strange one, I feel like the line was fine but … I probably wouldn’t have got Rowland because (with) the target being that high, it would have been hard to overtake and I needed another car in between us and it wasn’t going to happen.”
Despite both Evans and Cassidy missing out on an expected Drivers’ title for Jaguar, the brand still wrapped up the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ crowns, but Evans struggled to see the positives.
“It’s difficult. I guess we got the Teams’ that’s half the job done,” he said. “But the fact that neither Nick or I walk with the Drivers’ leaves a bitter taste.
Later on he added, “Maybe when I look back in a few months, I’ll potentially (see the positives). I’ve had strong years for a number of years now they’re still obviously missing a big one. So, yeah, it’s hard to see glass half full.”