Mitch Evans reveals "up and down season" cost him Formula E championship glory

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Jaguar's Mitch Evans has revealed that his "up and down season" cost him the chance to become a Formula E world champion. The New Zealander was 21-points down on Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein coming into the final race of the season, which made it a must-win race for Evans, who fell slightly short come the end of the race.

It was a rollercoaster of a race, with Wehrlein and Jake Dennis colliding, taking each other out of the points in the closing stages of the race. Before the pair collided, Jaguar's Antonio Felix da Costa played the ultimate team game for Evans, backing Wehrlein into traffic, with the German ending up outside of the points. Da Costa managed to give Evans the ideal situation by affecting their championship contenders, leaving it to Evans, who still needed to win the race.

Unfortunately for Evans, who was multiple seconds from the lead - in a race that was eventually won by Taylor Barnard, the five second gap was too much to ask for, with the New Zealander finishing in fourth place, just seconds from becoming a World Champion.

Asked by DIVEBOMB's Owen Bradley if he thought the race was coming back to him when the title rivals collided, Mitch Evans said: "For a couple of laps, kind of, but once I knew the gap to the leaders, as I had to win today - once I knew that, and the energy was virtually the same - to catch up, four or five seconds is almost impossible. Once I realised that, I didn't give up, but ultimately it was going to be a tough ask to try and catch them. If I had a big energy advantage I might have, but I didn't. That was a shame."

In his final race with the team, Evans' fourth place result - with title rivals out of the points, ensured that Jaguar claimed victory in the Team's championship. The New Zealander likely had mixed emotions when crossing the line at the season finale in London.

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Speaking about winning the Team's championship with Jaguar, Evans stated: "It's great, I think it shows the season that we've had, another impressive year from us. Obviously there's that other side of me where it's a bit difficult to be totally happy because I've lost the Drivers' championship.

He added: "Ultimately, we've put our best foot forward, this is a great reward for the team and shows that we've had a great season. Really happy for the team, I was hoping for a different finish with the team but we didn't quite make that work. But it's still a great way to end."

Evans has now won the Team's championship with Jaguar for a second time, taking their first title back in in the 2023/24 season. Despite the team's celebrations, Evans did fall slightly short in the Drivers' championship once again, coming painfully close to winning the title in a race which nearly gave him everything he needed in order to win it.

The New Zealander also raced for the final time with Jaguar at the London E-Prix, with the partnership coming to a close after a decade together.

Speaking about the 2025/26 season and his experience over the past decade with Jaguar, Evans said: "The last year is hard to put into a sentence. It's been an amazing journey for me, a great experience, this season has given me so much, we've achieved pretty much everything aside from the Drivers'. With everything else, I think we should be very proud of this partnership. We tried for the fairy-tale ending, it didn't quite work out, but that shouldn't take away from the last 10 years.

He added: "It's very cool, what we've achieved. It's going to be weird being rivals with them now! I'm looking forward to the future, wish them all the best. This season has been up and down, I think we've been strong, but there were a few moments that didn't quite go our way and that's what cost us in the end."

Credit: Hallam Voice - WHYOUT Images

Evans claimed two race victories and five podiums throughout the season, and fell short in the championship to Pascal Wehrlein by just nine points. A non-start in Round 13's Shanghai E-Prix and being hit by Dan Ticktum at the Sanya E-Prix limited his opportunities to score points. With the final gap resting at nine points, these two races may have de-railed the New Zealander's championship hopes.

However, at the penultimate race of the season in London, Evans was also stuck behind Porsche's Nico Müller for a large duration of the race, a race where he finished in eighth place, whilst his title rivals claimed first and second.

It is currently unclear as to which team Evans will be joining next season in Formula E's next evolution of car, the GEN4. With Evans being a strong championship contender in multiple seasons, the 31-year old will likely want to continue that trend, with a goal on finally getting the title over the line.

When asked if his new team may give him the opportunity to fight for the title next year, Evans said:

"That's the plan, I think so, I believe so, otherwise I wouldn't be going where I'm going, but we'll wait and see because obviously it's a fresh start for all teams, so the pecking order could change. We'll see what happens, but that's the plan."

Formula E returns in December for the 2026/27 season, a year which throws the entire equilibrium of the sport up into the air, with the upcoming GEN4 cars.