Mitch Evans has called the five-second time penalty which he was handed after a collision in the opening Portland Formula E race and that ultimately denied him victory “a disgrace”.
The Jaguar driver finished first on the road in Saturday’s 27-lap contest at the Portland International Raceway, but was demoted to eighth in the final classification after being handed the penalty during the race.
This was after he made contact with the McLaren of Jake Hughes on lap five along the back straight, which led the Briton to suffer a right-rear puncture that sent him off at the next corner.
Despite suffering front wing damage, having been behind in the incident, Evans was able to cross the line first before blasting the stewards for what he deemed was a racing incident.
“It’s a disgrace, to be honest,” Evans told Autosport on the decision. “The penalty is just completely out of order.
“Look, I feel like if I misjudged it, or if it was me changing lane and causing the puncture, then fair enough, that’s on me. I just think it was a really unfortunate set of circumstances.
“I haven’t spoken to Jake, I don’t know if he knew I was there or not, but I think he was very focused ahead to keep the car in the tow, that car [ahead] was moving around a little bit.
“Also, I was trying to deal with a kerb on the right kink and I ran as much as I could [over it] without bottoming out.
“And the stewards say I should have lifted off. I’m sorry, but I’m not the one changing lane.”
Evans’ penalty rounded out a disastrous day for the Jaguar squad, as Nick Cassidy spun off from the lead on the penultimate lap with victory all but securing him a maiden Formula E title.
Those same points for victory would put Evans just two points behind Cassidy in the standings instead of 27, and he says he is 100% backing the decision to call for a right to review with Jaguar considering its options.
Team principal James Barclay told Autosport: “Was it malicious? Absolutely not.
“Does it deserve a penalty? Again, the perspective of the stewards we have to respect ultimately.
“But there is a process which is a review process and for us that’s what we’ll consider whether we do.
“The perspective I’m getting from everyone we speak to, not just ourselves, is that penalty didn’t fit the crime – you could even argue there’s no crime.”
