A true end of an era is coming. Mitch Evans will not have a leaping Jaguar on his overalls next season for the first time in a decade. That will take some getting used to.
His time at Jaguar has seen him become one of the ‘Big Cat’s’ most successful drivers and his legend status within the brand is assured. There may be no title, yet, but the level of excellence and success that he has achieved cannot be underestimated.
Evans has produced some astounding performances in his nine and a half seasons so far with the Big Cat. Think Marrakesh 2020 when he went from last to sixth, or his four wins in Italy meaning he will forever be the ‘King of Rome’. Then there was his most recent and probably among his best. 16th to the cusp of victory at Jarama when he made several magical overtaking moves on hapless rivals. Evans sometimes can make the rest look a bit silly. That’s why he’s so highly prized.
But where does the news of his departure leave his current title quest. What a story it would be if he could exit Kidlington with the title trophy under his arms. Yet isn’t his exit actually harmful to that romantic notion?
“Quite the opposite,” asserts his new team boss, Ian James, who told Formula E Notebook that “I think actually his single-minded focus on getting that drivers’ championship is still very much there and we’ve got two drivers who have that common focus as well.
“That in itself can be a challenge but at the same time that’s what I expect them to have as drivers as athletes so that’s something that we need to manage going forward and we’ve already seen that I suppose coming to a head a little bit in Jarama. I’m actually again, once the dust had settled, really pleased at the approach that both drivers have taken to interacting with the team.”
All that though can change quickly. The potency of Evans’ competitive instinct is as pure and sometimes as volatile as any in racing. Often you’ll get tropes or soundbites from drivers about how much winning means to them. But for Evans it’s a genuine reason for being. Anyone who came across him at London in 2024 immediately after that race will completely attest to that.
Therefore, the team dynamic and the management of that will be crucial heading into the final half of the season. James and his senior team are sure to have a bumpy road ahead, but they are up for the challenge.
“The other thing that I think is a really important dynamic within the team is we’ve got both sides of the garage working incredibly well together and that’s not always an easy thing to achieve within any team and I don’t think necessarily within this team it’s been something which has always been straightforward either,” said James.
“At the moment that’s working beautifully and that’s part of the role of the management within the team to make sure that we keep that on track.”
So, its’ mid-August and Evans and da Costa head into the final double header at London ExCeL split by just two points in Evans’ favour. A further two behind da Costa is Wehrlein. The 2024 shadows are dancing menacingly. A Da Costa debut title or a box-office Evans leaving present?
“I’d take either at that point in time,” says a diplomatic James.
“I actually think there’s a bigger challenge and this is something that I’ve experienced in the past in Formula E, where you’ve got one driver who maybe is still mathematically in contention but realistically way away from being able to take the driver’s championship.
“How do you make sure that they come in to almost a supporting role at the right point in time? I think actually that’s a more difficult dynamic to manage within the team. I think if we’ve got both drivers genuinely in contention and hopefully in first and second places going into that final event in London then again that’s something that we’ll need to manage at the time.
“It would be wrong to overthink that now and try to engineer something to almost make it easier. I’d rather have that very luxurious problem at that point in time. I think what we’re doing at the moment is just being incredibly open about where we see the challenges, the chances for friction. “
If one is being critical, one might say that Jaguar have not managed their strategies as well as they could have in the past, especially in London in 2024. On that occasion Wehrlein was allowed to slip through the net while the team tried to get Cassidy and Evans into the best positions possible. It backfired. Yes, da Costa inadvertently ended his mate Cassidy’s race early, but the reality is that Cassidy could have been out of reach anyway, as could Evans.
The pressures all came to the surface, and it led to an awkward few months while the team and the drivers had to recalibrate on every level.
So, what does James fear from that hot-potch of jeopardy the most?
“Making sure that they (frustrations and recriminations) can’t bubble away under the surface without being spoken about,” he says.
“I think that’s the worst thing you can do, to just almost brush things under the carpet and pretend the issues not there. What we’re doing within the team at the moment is leaning into anything that we feel could be a problem, making sure that it’s spoken about, that before we get to the next stage that we’ve got a very clear and transparent alignment and that I think is a healthy foundation to have within the team.
“I’m not pretending for one second that’s an easy thing to achieve but as we sit here today we’re in a great, great spot. If we can continue that into the next few races then fantastic.
“If we end up in your scenario that you’ve just described in London then I’ll be as happy as anybody. And then to your point, let’s let it play out,” concluded James.
