Evans not satisfied with second
Mitch Evans says he’s ‘not yet satisfied’ with his achievements in the FIA Formula E World Championship despite feeling proud about clinching second place in the drivers’ title race this season.
The Kiwi was still in contention to take top honours heading into the final race in Seoul, South Korea. He admits missing out hurts, but he has vowed to come back stronger next year with the Jaguar TCS Racing team.
“I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, I really am, but I’m not yet satisfied,” he told motorsport.com. “I’m a fighter, I’m competitive, I always have been and yes, second, it’s great, but it’s not enough for me.
“I’ll recoup and regroup with the team, come back hard next year and keep on ironing out those little weaknesses that we’ve got.”
Evans won the first of the two races held in Seoul over the weekend of August 13-14 but was unable to do enough in the finale to prevent Stoffel Vandoorne from taking the world title. The Kiwi went into the Seoul E-Prix needing a victory and for his rival to finish no higher than eighth.
Evans qualified 13th and could only battle his way to seventh place by the end, while Vandoorne finished second for Mercedes. It was the Belgian’s eighth podium of the 2021/22 season, more than any other driver, and he only had one non-scoring race over the 16 rounds of the campaign.
The Kiwi’s runner-up spot overall was an improvement on fourth place in the previous season, when he again he remained in the title hunt going into the final race. He also had more wins than any of his rivals after collecting four chequered flags in the latest championship.
“The team should be proud of what we have all achieved. We came up a little short, but it is still a triumph, especially as we took the fight to the last day,” adds Evans.
“We didn’t have the pace in the dry today and we didn’t qualify well enough. It does hurt missing out on the last day again but it’s different circumstances this time.
“We did everything we could, four wins, seven podiums and I’m very proud. Roll on season nine and Gen3 where we’ll be back fighting for the top spot.”
