The last time Formula E visited Sao Paulo, Mitch Evans saw a certain win slip away from him in the dying seconds of the race. This time around, with the Brazilian city hosting the Season 11 opener, The Jaguar TCS Racing driver completed what seemed to be an impossible task by winning from last on the grid.
It looked as if it’d be a weekend to forget for Evans, who had his practice running curtailed by a powertrain issue, then failed to set a lap in qualifying after a brake system problem.
“Just a crazy, crazy one today, but lining up on the grid, I was first of all just hoping to see the checkered flag, because we’ve had some issues on track over the last two days, which obviously prevented me from doing qualifying and cutting one of the practice stations short,” he said. “So there was definitely some concern there. But once a race started, you just had to forget about it.”
A crucial element to Evans’ win was the Attack Mode, which, starting this season, gives power to the front wheels in addition to a power boost for a cumulative eight minutes during the race. Like teammate Nick Cassidy, Evans left his final use of Attack Mode late, allowing him to leapfrog cars that already used their allocation.
“Once guys started doing Attack Modes, it was quite eye-opening how much progress people were making, so I just wanted to try and be clever – none of us have got experience of going racing with that type of contrast between the two power levels,” he said. “I just went with my gut a little bit, timed it all right. But was it energy rich? It was all looking pretty good, but still, you just never know what’s gonna happen.”
Nevertheless, with TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa breathing down his neck, the potential of another late heartbreak remained. Evans’ admitted that last season’s Sao Paulo defeat “still really hurts,” and that he didn’t feel he’d won it until he completed the last turn of the last lap.