"A dream team": Why Opel signed Mitch Evans for the Gen4 era

Credit: Opel GSE Formula E Team

“After 10 years with a manufacturer, it was time for me to take on a fresh challenge.”

These were the first words of Mitch Evans after taking up a lucrative offer to join and lead Opel’s upcoming Formula E entry in Season 13, the first year of the championship’s Gen4 machine being used. 

For many, it will definitely be a unique sight to see Evans turn up in fluorescent overalls instead of the iconic shades he donned during his Jaguar days. But it serves up an exciting prospect, with one big ambition: Win a World Championship. 

“We are joining the World Championship to challenge at the front,” Opel GSE Team Principal Jörg Schrott reinforced on the team’s ambitious signing of Evans into their roster. 

Opel’s Formula E entry has been active for all of five months, ever since the manufacturer announced its decision to enter Formula E’s Gen4 era in Madrid earlier this year. 

In the short span of time, Opel has already made big moves in Formula E’s buzzing driver market, securing former Formula 3 driver Sophia Flörsch in a developmental role before closing another much-awaited deal with Théo Pourchaire for their first driver signing. 

But team principal Schrott was seeking even more. A stalwart in the championship. When a driver of Evans’ calibre puts his name up in the driver market, he brings talent and Formula E pedigree that can be matched only by a handful of names. 

More fancied names have thrown their hat into the ring for a drive at the German manufacturer. As reported by sources, Taylor Barnard and Nyck de Vries were in talks with Opel for a Gen4 seat. However, Schrott appeared much more convinced by Evans right from the off. 

Why Opel went only for Mitch Evans' services

Credit: Opel GSE Formula E Team

“After so many years with another manufacturer, he was deliberately looking for a new challenge.”

It’s a spicy sentence, arguably a warning shot to the Formula E grid, but it only affirms both parties and their desires to complete an unfinished chapter in their careers. 

Opel is well aware of just how good Evans can be on his day. The New Zealander’s hunger for a Formula E title, and arguably being known as Formula E’s nearly-man, has grown to become more relatable with every passing year

Much to the point, Evans’ former employers at Jaguar dropped a cheeky line in an emotional tribute video during the London E-Prix weekend. “Hopefully by the time you’re old, you’ll finally have a world championship.”

While Jaguar and most of the Formula E community related to this subtle yet expressive message, and Evans responded with intrigue, it has also built pressure on both parties to seal the deal when an opportunity is presented. 

To say Evans has come close to winning the title is an understatement. In five of the last seven completed Formula E campaigns, the 32-year-old has come up short of the ultimate prize, finishing in the top four but a handful of points behind.  

Jaguar and Evans have seen multiple championship bids come undone in the crunch moments, the biggest opportunity coming in 2024. Evans lost the title by all of six points that year to Pascal Wehrlein, with Jaguar just missing the final step and unable to close down Porsche in the finale at London. 

Missing out on attack mode activation in the finale cost him a chance of victory in London, while a prior penalty in Portland for an incident dropped him from the lead to eighth, after then teammate Nick Cassidy spun out late in the race. 

If it was attack mode in 2024, an incident in the penultimate weekend at Rome in 2023 with Cassidy ended both drivers’ championship ambitions. In 2021, a stall off the five red lights and a subsequent shunt by Mortara ended his hopes of chasing down de Vries in the championship lead. 

With every passing year, one could sense Evans’ patience running thin. There’s only so many times you can come close and miss out, and such a run of misfortune can form a mental barrier, straining the relationship between the team and the driver.

There was also the flashpoint earlier in Season 12, when Evans was ordered to hold position behind teammate da Costa heading onto the final lap, a moment of disappointment for the New Zealander after a stellar drive from 16th on the grid. 

Each event added up, culminating in Evans’ exit from Jaguar. And if you’re any team looking for a star driver to bring onto your roster, you wouldn’t look any further. 

At the same time, Opel were scouting for an experienced head to join their team for their first-ever Formula E campaign. Going in with an experienced face is an important facet for a team making their debut, and the German manufacturer drew similar cards to the fellow Stellantis-powered Citroën outfit: Go all-out for the biggest names. 

The German manufacturer held talks with big names, including Oliver Rowland and Nyck de Vries, as reported by sources earlier. While both are Formula E champions and know what it takes to win races and titles, it was the initial interaction between Evans and team principal Schrott that sealed the deal. 

“Mitch (Evans) was the preferred candidate for our Opel GSE Formula E Team from the very beginning,” Schrott expressed. 

Another factor playing out in Opel’s desire to secure Evans’ services was a deja vu moment, a similar position to being at Jaguar way back in 2016. The Kidlington outfit that once started as debutants in the series eventually went on to become champions twice, with Evans arguably becoming synonymous with the team’s success. 

Such experiences will only prove valuable for a team starting all on its own, with Opel running an independent Stellantis entry and not acquiring any existing licences on the grid for the Gen4 era. “The team isn’t just coming into the series to compete: Opel is here to win, and that's exactly what I aspire to,” Evans described, speaking on this landmark signing. 

All this is before you take into account Evans’ on-track achievements in Formula E. The winningest driver in the series is a fitting accolade for the New Zealander to hold, and some drives arguably stand out more than the others. 

If his drive from last to first in a chaotic São Paulo E-Prix in 2024 wasn’t evidence, Evans replicated a similar drive in Berlin in Season 12. 

You don’t need to look further than Miami earlier this year to get an account of Evans and his overtaking abilities, as he nailed a switchback race-winning overtake on race leader Nico Müller in the wet. 

Shades of his overtaking capabilities were visible even at Jarama, as Evans utilised the elevation and the sweeping corners to pull off exquisite overtakes on his way to second. 

The collective success Evans achieved over the years eventually put him as a frontrunner to join the new Opel franchise, with Schrott hailing his “undisputed exceptional sporting pedigree” as a major factor in the decision. 

Experience and rookie flair bring two strong narratives at Opel

Credit: Opel GSE Formula E Team

Evans’ Opel signing is only amplified by the signing on the other side of the garage. If the ex-Jaguar man brings race-winning expertise and an ability to run at the front of the field, his new teammate may just be the perfect adversary.  

Pourchaire’s signing marks the end of a long wait to get behind the wheel of a Formula E car, and 2027 will mark an emotional return to single-seater racing for the first time in three years. 

A rocky period after his F2 days may have been difficult to endure, but it also left Pourchaire with the valuable trait of versatility and performing across a variety of circuits, handy for Formula E’s 21-race Gen4 calendar in Season 13. 

Pourchaire is another driver known to be quick over one lap and ever consistent, as evidenced by his three years of F2. With the next generation of Formula E cars closer to the Frenchman’s driving style, there remains good reason to believe Opel have picked out the best line-up available.  

In some ways, the team’s first season in Formula E may be influenced strongly by the collective desires and aspirations of both drivers. 

For Evans, it’s the long-standing desire to win a Formula E title that will push him to extract the maximum from the Gen4 machinery. His undisputed quest for the championship’s biggest trophy also makes for a strong narrative for fans to follow, and has evolved to become Formula E’s most pressing talking point every season. 

With 132 starts under his name at a new team, Opel will be looking to utilise Evans’ experience to ensure a smooth start to their Formula E campaign. Yet, there will be more motivation at hand for the Auckland-native, as he charts his own course for the Gen4 era.        

Joining Opel also provides the opportunity to lead from the front and be free of any team orders or clashes with a teammate. It allows Evans to eventually mould himself into a de facto mentor on the team, assuming a similar role to Lucas di Grassi when the Brazilian joined Lola in Season 11. 

Pourchaire, on the other hand, will be aiming to show what he can do with stability and a full year of racing, making up for truncated Super Formula and IndyCar appearances and missing out on his Formula One dream. 

Given his involvement in the championship right from the Gen3 days, Pourchaire isn’t shy of knowing what the series entails. But once he puts his helmet down and sets off for his maiden Gen4 outing, it will all start to feel very real. 

The Frenchman’s desire to prove a point after losing out on several opportunities lost out of his control makes for another exciting story to follow, heading into the upcoming campaign. 

For a new team coming into Formula E, Opel bring bold ambitions, and may just have managed to secure the strongest driver line-up on paper.

But for Evans to really seal the title, it would be an astounding sight, given Formula E hasn't seen a team immediately come in and be successful right from the off. Yet, few teams can boast the overtaking prowess and the outright pace of Evans, and if there is any driver who would be itching to prove a point, it can well be Opel's newest signing.

Whether Evans’ experience and Pourchaire’s resilience translate into success right from the off, it remains to be seen. But there is no doubt Opel head into the Gen4 era as dark horses to fight for the title.