Mitch Evans – Syndication Server

Team tactics satisfy both Jaguar teammates in Monaco

Mitch Evans praised “team player” Nick Cassidy as the pair secured a one-two finish for Jaguar TCS Racing at the Monaco E-Prix. Evans won by 0.946s over Cassidy, who himself had a 2.889s advantage over DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne at the end of the …

Mitch Evans praised “team player” Nick Cassidy as the pair secured a one-two finish for Jaguar TCS Racing at the Monaco E-Prix.

Evans won by 0.946s over Cassidy, who himself had a 2.889s advantage over DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne at the end of the race, but it was Cassidy’s control over those behind him that allowed Evans to maintain the lead after taking both of his Attack Modes.

“We knew it was going to be a tough race, we knew it was going to be all about the strategy around the attacks — obviously Nick and I started side-by-side so that kind of helped things as the race evolved,” said Evans. “We had a rough game plan before going to the race but I really owe this win to Nick — he really helped me when it mattered, I helped him when it mattered. I really appreciate the team player he was today.”

Expanding on the strategy discussions, Evans acknowledged that while races can often turn out differently to how they’re predicted, Monaco matched the Jaguar team’s expectations.

“Obviously we discuss all potential scenarios but the majority of the time when you get on track the race happens completely differently,” he said. “But the way it turned out, I think it was as expected and we knew we were going to be racing with each other on track instead of tripping over ourselves — we may as well help each other (and) it’s quite a bit Attack loss here.

“I think the DS guys were trying to do the same thing as well but we executed that perfectly. Obviously we discuss this pre-race but also other scenarios that could potentially happen, but it played out exactly as we wanted it.”

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While the result was a landmark one for Jaguar, it was also a big moment for Evans who was a six-time podium finisher across GP2 and Formula E prior to his win on Sunday.

“It’s just an amazing achievement for the team, and for me to finally get my first win here after trying — even before Formula E I was trying, in GP2 and everything — so to finally get on the top step here means the world,” he said.

Evans’ first Monaco win was also his first of the season, a season which has so far been disappointing for the New Zealander, who started the year as one of the championship favorites.

“I haven’t started the way I would’ve liked,” he admitted. “I came off the back of a really strong end of last season with many wins and podiums so I was expecting the same to start, or at least early on in the season.

“Obviously I had Brazil which was a second place, almost a win, but it’s not really gone the way I would’ve liked so far. So while this win’s come at a really good time, a really critical stage of the championship, to get my first win finally is nice — to get that first win of the season always feels like a monkey off your back and then you can try and carry that momentum through the rest of the championship.”

Cassidy, who won last year’s Monaco E-Prix for Envision Racing prior to switching to the factory Jaguar team this year, paid tribute to Evans, noting that he’d been the team’s leader in practice and qualifying at Monaco,

“Today’s about Mitch — he won the Monaco E-Prix, he’s a very deserving winner,” Cassidy said. “(He’s had) many, many podiums here (and been) very close. I was lucky enough to be in a position with him, the other way round, last year and got the win here. It’s very very special.

“We had the performance today — I think not quite as much as Mitch in practice and qualifying, we struggled a little bit, but we were there when it counted and it’s a great team result.”

Jaguar dominates Monaco E-Prix as Evans leads Cassidy home

Mitch Evans won the ABB Formula E championship’s Monaco E-Prix, leading home Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Nick Cassidy, after a chaotic race on the streets of Monte Carlo. Both Jaguars started on the second row of the grid and wasted no time moving …

Mitch Evans won the ABB Formula E championship’s Monaco E-Prix, leading home Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Nick Cassidy, after a chaotic race on the streets of Monte Carlo.

Both Jaguars started on the second row of the grid and wasted no time moving forward, pressuring second-placed starter Stoffel Vandoorne into Sainte Devote on the first lap. The DS Penske man held firm, though, and the Jaguars had to wait to move into second and third.

Polesitter and race leader Pascal Wehrlein of TAG Heuer Porsche went for the Attack Mode power boost on lap three, opening the door for Evans to take the lead — a position he would not relinquish for the rest of the race. Cassidy followed him through, but was facing pressure from a charging Jean-Eric Vergne.

A lap later, the race got its first safety car, after Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara slammed into the wall in the Swimming Pool section after an apparent brake failure. On the same lap, ERT driver Sergio Sette Camara forced Envision’s Sebastien Buemi up onto two wheels and then into the barrier at the Grand Hotel hairpin. Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa was also collected in the scuffle, while Sette Camara was slapped with a five-second penalty as a result.

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The race resumed on lap 9, with Evans taking his Attack Modes on laps 11 and 13. Such was Jaguar’s control at the front of the field, with Cassidy serving as a rear gunner to Evans, Evans was able to maintain the lead despite both times he took the slower, longer line.

Cassidy served his final Attack Mode pass-through on lap 17, and five laps later had it confirmed over the radio that the team was looking to maintain position — thus it was formation flying for the tow Jaguars out in front for the remainder of the race.

A brief second safety car didn’t deter them, either. The caution period came about after NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes forced ABT Cupra driver Nico Mueller into the wall at Rascasse on lap 25 of what was initially a 29-lap race, but extended to 31 as a result of the two safety car periods.

It was a first Monaco victory for Evans — who topped both practice sessions at the start of the day — and the factory Jaguar team, but second consecutive win in the Principality for it as a powertrain supplier following Cassidy’s win for former team Envision last season.

Stoffel Vandoorne took his first podium finish since his championship-winning season in 2021-22. He ended the race third, almost four seconds adrift of Evans, while Vergne maintained the two-by-two formation at the head of the field by finishing behind his teammate in fourth, the first safety car period destroying his challenge on Cassidy.

Wehrlein couldn’t recover from slipping down the field during his Attack Modes and wound up fifth, while Oliver Rowland put on another fine display for Nissan, clawing through from 15th on the grid to take sixth.

Da Costa recovered from the incident with Sette Camara and Buemi at the Grand Hotel hairpin to finish sixth, ahead of Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz, Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther, and Andretti’s Norman Nato who rounded out the top 10.

Taylor Barnard took 14th, behind Lucas di Grassi, Nyck de Vries and Dan Ticktum, on his debut for NEOM McLaren in place of the injured Sam Bird. He initially finished behind teammate Jake Hughes too but Hughes was handed a five-second penalty for his avoidable contact with Mueller. Mueller was subsequently one of two retirements along with Mortara.

Jake Dennis was the final runner to cross the line, in 20th, following a pit stop after sustaining front wing damage after being squeezed by Robin Frijns in the tunnel on lap 10. Frijns sustained front wing damage of his own on lap 17 after contact with da Costa. He finished 17th.

RESULTS

Evans remains on top in Monaco E-Prix FP2

Mitch Evans remained on top in second practice for the Monaco E-Prix as once again Jaguar powertrains took the top two spots. Factory team driver Evans set a best time of 1m29.521s, 0.129s ahead of Envision Racing driver Robin Frijns, while TAG …

Mitch Evans remained on top in second practice for the Monaco E-Prix as once again Jaguar powertrains took the top two spots.

Factory team driver Evans set a best time of 1m29.521s, 0.129s ahead of Envision Racing driver Robin Frijns, while TAG Heuer Porsche improved to muscle into the top five. Pascal Wehrlein was third, 0.151s off the top spot, with Antonio Felix da Costa improving two places from his FP1 performance to finish fourth, albeit 0.308s off his teammate.

Maximilian Guenther was fifth for Maserati MSG Racing, ahead of ERT’s Dan Ticktum and Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, with DS Penske driver Stoffel Vandoorne, Nyck de Vries of Mahindra, and Andretti’s Norman Nato rounding to the top 10.

Nick Cassidy was 11th in the second Jaguar TCS Racing entry, one spot ahead of Edoardo Mortara who spent much of the session in the top-five, until he crashed out of the session in the final five minutes.

In an incident reminiscent of Sam Bird’s in FP1 — which has forced him to sit out the remainder of the day — the Mahindra driver locked up going into Sainte Devote and slid into the wall, the hard contact breaking his car’s steering.

Jehan Daruvala wound up 13th in the second Maserati, ahead of Jake Hughes and Jake Dennis of Andretti and NEOM McLaren respectively, Nico Mueller of Abt Cupra, Sacha Fenestraz of Nissan, and DS Penske driver Jean-Eric Vergne.

Lucas di Grassi was 19th for Abt Cupra, ahead of Envision’s Sebastien Buemi and Sergio Sette Camara who once again faced issues with ERT. Taylor Barnard rounded out the field, the McLaren driver playing catch-up after the late call for him to step in for the injured Bird.

RESULTS

Evans leads opening Monaco E-Prix practice

Mitch Evans set the pace in the opening practice session for the Monaco E-Prix as Jaguar-powered cars swept the top-three positions. His best time of 1m30.414 was 0.299s quicker than Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns, with his Jaguar TCS Racing …

Mitch Evans set the pace in the opening practice session for the Monaco E-Prix as Jaguar-powered cars swept the top-three positions.

His best time of 1m30.414 was 0.299s quicker than Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns, with his Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Nick Cassidy a further 0.393s back in third. NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes was fourth, ahead of Andretti driver Jake Dennis, the top-five covered by just over a second.

TAG Heuer Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa was unhappy with the balance of his car in the session and wound up sixth, 0.043s off Dennis. Behind him was the Mahindra pairing of Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries, with Andretti’s Norman Nato and Sebastien Buemi in the second Envision rounding out the top-10.

Maximilian Guenther finished the session in 11th for the Monaco-based Maserati MSG Racing team, ahead of series champions Lucas de Grassi (Abt Cupra) and Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske), with Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) and Dan Ticktum (ERT) 14th and 15th respectively.

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Misano Race 1 winner Oliver Rowland was 16th quickest, despite a spin at the Grand Hotel Hairpin in the final minute of the session. The Nissan driver finished ahead of Nico Mueller in the second Abt Cupra entry, Jean-Eric Vergne int he other DS Penske, teammate Sacha Fenestraz, and Maserati driver Jehan Daruvala.

McLaren’s Sam Bird finished the session 21st after going into the barriers at Sainte Devote in the final 10 minutes following a lockup of his right-front tire. The incident didn’t bring out a red flag, although there was one halfway through the session after an advertising hoarding was pulled onto the track on the run down to Mirabeu.

ERT driver Sergio Sette Camara completed the field, albeit more than 11 seconds off the pace.

RESULTS

Evans leads Jaguar-powered sweep of FE practices in Tokyo

Mitch Evans topped FP2 at the Tokyo E-Prix as Jaguar-powered cars completed a clean sweep of practice sessions in the manufacturer’s 100th race weekend. After customer entrant Envision Racing paced first practice on Friday with Robin Frijns, Jaguar …

Mitch Evans topped FP2 at the Tokyo E-Prix as Jaguar-powered cars completed a clean sweep of practice sessions in the manufacturer’s 100th race weekend.

After customer entrant Envision Racing paced first practice on Friday with Robin Frijns, Jaguar TCS Racing driver Evans set a best time of 1m19.339s on Saturday morning. His final lap was 0.061s quicker than Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, who had moved to the fore in the final five minutes, with Maximillian Guenther a further 0.027s back for Maserati MSG Racing.

TAG Heuer Porsche once again was the only team and manufacturer to get two cars into the top five with Pascal Wehrlein fourth – just 0.001s off third having gone fastest at the halfway point in the session – and Antonio Felix da Costa fifth.

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Nick Cassidy was sixth in the other factory Jaguar, with the top six all covered by a mere 0.110s. Andretti’s Norman Nato was seventh quickest ahead of Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara, DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne, and Jake Dennis in the second Andretti.

Stoffell Vandoorne was 11th quickest, ahead of Frijns. His Envision teammate Sebastien Buemi was 14th quickest, with Abt Cupra’s Nico Mueller splitting the pair. The other Abt Cupra of Lucas di Grassi was 15th after brushing the wall at Turn 12. The resulting debris brought out the only red flag of the session around halfway through.

NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes was 16th quickest, ahead of Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) and Nyck de Vries (Mahindra), another driver to lose bodywork after a brush with a wall. Sergio Sette Camara (ERT), Jehan Daruvala (Maserati), Sam Bird (McLaren) and Dan Ticktum (ERT) completed the field.

RESULTS

Evans battles battery overheating en route to Sao Paulo podium

Mitch Evans finally broke his 2023-24 season podium drought in the Sao Paulo E-Prix, but admitted the occasion was “bittersweet” as he narrowly missed out on victory. The Jaguar TCS Racing driver was leading from the final safety car restart on lap …

Mitch Evans finally broke his 2023-24 season podium drought in the Sao Paulo E-Prix, but admitted the occasion was “bittersweet” as he narrowly missed out on victory.

The Jaguar TCS Racing driver was leading from the final safety car restart on lap 20 but succumbed to pressure from Sam Bird in the final sequence of corners on the last lap of the race. But while he described Bird’s daring pass around the outside of Turn 10 as “a great move,” he revealed that a loss of power in the extremely hot temperatures were key to his downfall.

“It’s bittersweet given that a few laps ago I thought it was going to be [a win] for us again,” he conceded. “But I started getting some temperature warnings quite quickly and then it kind of escalated on the last lap. I had a huge de-rate on the last lap with power.

“I had run out of power, so even if Sam didn’t overtake me there, he probably would’ve got me at the start/finish line. So yeah, [it’s] a bit frustrating with that because I had loads of energy left but I was just trying to bring it home…just a little bit shy, two corners shy. But to lose it out to Sam, he’s been through a really tough period and it’s really cool to see him back on the top step as well.”

Evans says he feels there’s not much more he could do to salvage the situation, pointing out that he’d never been put through something like it before.

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“From our side, I’m happy for the points. We did all the right steps at the right time with these crazy races to produce another race win, but it wasn’t meant to be today,” he said. “I’ve not experienced de-rate like that before in this category, with the battery, so that was quite a new experience but we knew it was going to be on the limit.

“The rate it came in was quite aggressive, to be honest. Even when I was in the lead I was under-consuming a lot. I was doing all the right things to try and manage the temp, energy and track position, so I’m a bit surprised to get the warnings, especially having that clean air. If I was in the tow or P2/P3 it would have made more sense.

“I didn’t think I over-managed. Whether I could’ve done something different, we’ll have to wait and see, but the rate it came in was so aggressive, I felt like I was in a GEN1 car on the last lap.”

Nissan driver Oliver Rowland, who finished behind Evans in third, driving with the same powertrain as Bird’s winning McLaren, pointed out that the Japanese brand had to contend with battery overheating issues, but predicting them and managing them was key to the brand’s best race result of the year.

“What’s quite tricky here is that when you have a battery temp issue, you can’t save too much in the beginning of the race because then if you have too much energy at the end, that completely screws the battery because you can’t use it,” Rowland said. “It’s a really tricky balance for us to have the right targets but not have saved too much, because you can have all the energy at the end but you can’t actually use it if your battery’s overheated.

“I think it was the first time in GEN3 that we’ve had this. It’s quite even for everyone, so to be honest, my team pretty much expected what happened in terms of overheating — and made a pretty good job of it because I started to struggle with seven or eight laps to go. I had warnings on the dash but they managed it perfectly.”

Evans leads opening Sao Paulo Formula E practice

Mitch Evans topped the opening practice session of the Sao Paulo E-Prix, as Jaguar TCS Racing dominated a sweltering 30-minute session. Evans’ best time of 1m12.555s was 0.221s quicker than teammate Nick Cassidy, with the pair the only drivers to …

Mitch Evans topped the opening practice session of the Sao Paulo E-Prix, as Jaguar TCS Racing dominated a sweltering 30-minute session.

Evans’ best time of 1m12.555s was 0.221s quicker than teammate Nick Cassidy, with the pair the only drivers to break the 1m 13s barrier. But while the factory team locked out the top two spots on the timesheets, customer outfit Envision Racing could only manage 12th and 16th with Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns respectively.

Edorardo Mortara was third quickest for Mahindra Racing, setting a best time of 1m13.096, with ERT’s Dan Ticktum and TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein rounding out the top five.

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Maserati MSG Maximilian Guenther edged NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes to sixth, beating the Briton by 0.035s, with Porsche Antonio Felix da Costa even closer, just 0.010 off Hughes in eighth.

Jehan Daruvala was ninth quickest, Maserati joining Porsche and Jaguar as the only teams to get both drivers into the top 10. Andretti Porsche’s Norman Nato went 10th fastest, ahead of the other ERT of Sergio Sette Camara and the aforementioned Buemi.

Reigning champion Jake Dennis was 13th in the other Andretti, ahead of Abt Cupra’s Nico Mueller, DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne, Frijns, and home hero Lucas Di Grassi.

Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, Mahinda’s Nyck de Vries, McLaren’s Sam Bird, DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne — last year’s Sao Paulo E-Prix polesitter who was atop the times early in the session — and Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz completed the field, with all 20 cars being covered by less than a second and a half.

RESULTS

Evans fuming over stewards’ non-calls in frenetic Diriyah E-Prix

Mitch Evans’ drop from third to fifth on the final lap of the Diriyah E-Prix was an obvious disappointment, but aside from the missed podium, the Jaguar TCS Racing driver felt like even more had been possible. Evans was engaged in a race-long battle …

Evans was engaged in a race-long battle with DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne, with both ultimately being beaten by Andretti Formula E’s Jake Dennis. While Dennis eventually won by over 13 seconds, Evans felt that he could have matched the reigning champion.

“Performance was strong but I’m standing here with a fifth place, which is annoying,” he said. “I think we could have won today if things played out differently around the attacks. I think we could have done that better. Full credit to Jake and his team, they played it really well.”

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Vergne boxed off Evans at the start of the race in what was the first of a number of close encounters between the pair. Their coming together at the Attack Zone merge on lap four left Evans’ frustrated at a lack of action from the race stewards.

“A few random parts of the race, like the rejoin with JEV — he just drove me into the wall — not even looked into by the stewards, which I think is pretty bad,” he said. “And then on top of that, I made a mistake when I was defending from him, which is frustrating and obviously gave him the position.”

As for the final lap where Evans ran deep while attempting to pass Vergne, Evans suggests that Vergne was at fault in that encounter, too.

“I felt good to get him back on that last lap but he made a double move defending me and the car snapped on me and made me run quite a bit wider, so I lost more positions,” he said. “I may have made the move stick but if anything, he just would have passed me back. The double move, I thought, was really average; but again, will the stewards look at it? Probably not.”

Feeling that today was a missed opportunity to win, Evans says another shot on Saturday is “realistic,” but admits it won’t be as simple as turning up and repeating the same strong points from today, especially with the shorter distance for the second race of the weekend.

“The track will evolve — we need to keep up to speed with that with the car setup,” he said. “We’ve got to qualify well — the race is a lap less tomorrow so the race will be even faster. Track position will be key.”

Evans leads second Mexico City Formula E practice

Mitch Evans topped second practice for the Mexico City E-Prix in what was a strong session for Jaguar. The day began on something of a bad note for the team, however, with both factory drivers Evans and Nick Cassidy – as well as DS Penske’s Stoffel …

Mitch Evans topped second practice for the Mexico City E-Prix in what was a strong session for Jaguar.

The day began on something of a bad note for the team, however, with both factory drivers Evans and Nick Cassidy — as well as DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne — being hit with one-place grid penalties overnight for red flag infringements during Friday’s first practice.

FP2 took place early in the morning with the temperatures cooler and therefore not representative of what Saturday afternoon’s race will be like, unlike Friday’s session. Nevertheless, lap times were quicker, with the track more rubbered in and the driver more accustomed to it.

Evans’ session best of 1m13.606 was 0.064s quicker than Maserati MSG’s Maximillian Guenther, with Robin Frijns of Jaguar customer Envision Racing in third. Cassidy was fourth quickest, with Vandoorne keeping Envision’s Sebastien Buemi out of the top five.

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Oliver Rowland was seventh, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne in the other DS Penske, followed by reigning champion Jake Dennis of Andretti Global and FP1 pacesetter Jake Hughes of NEOM McLaren. Hughes was running in a new chassis after crashing at the end of FP1.

Dan Ticktum was just 0.028s out of the top 10 in his ERT entry. Sam Bird was 12th quickest in the other McLaren, with previous champions Lucas di Grassi (Abt Cupra) and Antonio Felix da Costa (Porsche) in 15th and 16th respectively, the pair being split by Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan), and Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche).

The second Andretti of Norman Nato, Nico Mueller in the other Abt Cupra entry, Maserati rookie Jehan Daruvala, Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara, ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara, and the returning Nyck de Vries in the other Mahindra rounded out the field.

RESULTS

Evans leads for Jaguar again as Formula E testing resumes

Mitch Evans was fastest again as Formula E testing resumed in Valencia on Thursday. After topping an abbreviated first day of running, the Jaguar TCS Racing man’s best time of 1m24.791 narrowly beat Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa by 0.023s. Da …

Da Costa — who was also second on Tuesday — only ran in the final hour, with his car being driven by ADAC Prototype Cup LMP3 race winner Gabriela Jilkova for the first part of the day. Similarly, Evans’ best time came late in the day, usurping long-time table-topper Eduardo Mortara, who wound up third for Mahindra, setting his best time after briefly stopping with power issues.

Mahindra had to contend with running a condensed program during the day, with some of its infrastructure damaged in the fire at WAE’s adjacent garage on Tuesday.

“As a result of the fire, Mahindra Racing sustained damage to its trackside infrastructure. The damage includes but is not limited to the team’s IT infrastructure, engineering stations and to both race cars,” the team explained in a statement.

Mortara was subsequently the team’s sole runner on Thursday, with 2020-21 series champion Nyck de Vries sidelined.

Robin Frijns was fourth fastest for Envision racing, with Pascal Wehrlein fifth, once again ensuring that Porsche was the only team with two drivers in the top five.

Maximilian Gunther, the fastest driver in three of the last four pre-seasons, was sixth for Maserati MSG Racing ahead of Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, Norman Nato of Andretti Global, Maserati rookie Jehan Daruvala, and Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy rounding out the top 10 with Jean Eric Vergne (DS Penske) and reigning champion Jake Dennis — who didn’t run on Tuesday with his Andretti Global car being driven by Zane Maloney.

Making his on-track debut for McLaren after being deputized by Taylor Barnard on Tuesday, Sam Bird was 18th one spot behind Sebastien Buemi, 0.46s off his teammate Jake Dennis who was 14th, splitting Abt Cupra duo Mico Mueller and Lucas di Grassi.

Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan), Dan Ticktum and Sergio Sette Camara (both ERT) completed the runners.

Testing at Valencia continues on Friday.