Mitch Evans has revealed he was “just hoping to see the chequered flag” having taken a shock victory in the Formula E Sao Paulo season-opener from last on the grid.
The Jaguar driver was plagued by a powertrain issue over the weekend that brought him to a halt in the opening practice session and prevented him from setting a lap in qualifying.
Starting last on the streets of Sao Paulo, where Evans won in 2023 and finished as runner-up last season, the Kiwi made swift progress in a 35-lap race that was plagued by two red flags.
“It was a crazy one today,” said Evans, who became the first driver in Formula E history to win from last.
“Lining up on the grid I was first of all just hoping to see the chequered flag because we had some issues on track over the last two days which obviously prevented me from doing qualifying and cutting one of the practice sessions short, so there was definitely some concern there.
“But once the race started, I just had to forget about it and just hope from that side it was all fine.”
Evans was inside the top 10 by the second lap and capitalised on the overpowered performance of Attack Mode, the 350kW activation triggering all-wheel-drive in the new Gen3 Evo cars.
Like team-mate Nick Cassidy, Evans deployed his second Attack Mode later than others and after the first red flag, which offered a distinctive strategic advantage against those ahead.
“That [the start] really changed my race quickly because I was starting to get into the mid-pack and started to shift my focus to optimise this race even more,” said Evans.
“Once guys started taking Attack Mode it was quite eye-opening how much progress people were making so I just wanted to try and be clever with that. I went with my gut a little bit, timed it all pretty good.”
Having passed Cassidy at the start of lap 29 for the lead, a second red flag was shown the following tour after Cassidy and Wehrlein collided, which sent the latter airborne and to hospital for precautionary checks.
With a four-lap dash to the flag, Evans drove defensively to stay ahead of Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa, as well as the two McLarens of Taylor Barnard and Sam Bird, both of whom had more energy in reserve.
“I probably thought it was done out of the last corner on the last lap,” added Evans. “The whole race was very unpredictable and in the last four laps with this guy [da Costa] breathing down your neck, you don’t know what could happen.
“It would have been nice to have a calmer end to the race but got it done so I guess that’s what matters.”
