Evans ‘gutted’ as title shot fails

Mitch Evans has finished fourth in the ABB FIA Formula E Drivers’ World Championship but was left to rue a disappointing finale when a technical fault left him stranded on the start line.

The Kiwi driver ended the campaign just nine points behind the champion Nyck de Vries, having gone into the race as one of 13 drivers still in contention for the title.

Evans, pictured above, appeared to be the favourite to take out the season’s honours after qualifying third for the race in Berlin on August 16, while the rest of the contenders sat outside the top 10 of the starting grid.

Despite individual disappointment, his Jaguar Racing team, pictured below, clinched second place in the teams’ championship behind Mercedes EQ.

Evans finished clinched five podium finishes during the 2021 season and his teammate, Sam Bird, finished sixth in the championship after collecting two wins, three podiums and a pole position.

After the end-of-season race, Evans said: “We appeared to have some failure after the launch in the car. It was over before it even started so it was obviously not meant to be this year. 

“I’m gutted for the whole team to not get a run at it today but to be able to finish second in the teams’ championship is still huge progress. We’ll come back fighting again next year.”

James Barclay, director of the British team, described the technical problems for the New Zealand driver as a “massive shame”.

He adds: “As a team, we put ourselves in a position to fight for both the drivers’ and teams’ championship this season and that’s what we’re most proud of. This has been our best season and we have made huge progress.”

Jaguar Racing is now looking forward to season eight of the Formula E World Championship, which is due to start on January 28-29, 2022, in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.