Jaguar hit expectations for Formula E debut with 12th in Hong Kong

The Northern Irishman and team-mate Mitch Evans, who retired, qualified more than a second off pole position, with Jaguar the only team not to get at least one car within a second of Nelson Piquet Jr's pole time.

Carroll admitted he hoped "I was going to be a bit closer than that", but put it down to a conservative qualifying lap, and his fastest lap of the race was more competitive relative to those on similar strategies.

Team director James Barclay told Autosport the result was "in line with where we thought" and said it could take "a lot of positives" from its debut.

"We had no idea where we were," he added. "We approached this weekend quite cautiously in a lot of ways.

"We were really competitive on energy [usage compared to rivals on the same strategy], we know we can push a bit harder there.

"For sure there's time to find in qualifying but we were quite conservative.

"We needed mileage. It was in line with what we were expecting."

Evans started 15th with Carroll 17th after a three-place grid penalty for speeding under a red flag in his qualifying group.

Both drivers flirted with the top 10 but lost out when they did not pit under the safety car, which Barclay admitted was a mistake as the team was not convinced it would make it to end with a long second stint.

The Jaguar package is believed to be slightly overweight compared to its rivals.

Barclay insisted the race proved the team was not going to suffer the same fate as NextEV did last season with a heavily compromised package and an overweight car.

"I think we've shown today that's not the case," he said. "We'll show the potential as the races progress.

"We know where we are. In the race Mitch and Adam were moving forward, that's a good sign."

Carroll lost time in the car swaps with a seatbelt issue and said Jaguar could "definitely chip away" at its pace deficit to the frontrunners.

"We have the data, we have all the laps," he said.

"There was definitely time to gain in qualifying. How much it bunched up [in the race], it was pretty good."

Evans retired due to a technical issue on his second car that had been picked up earlier in the day.

"As a driver I've got a lot to work on with myself," the rookie admitted. "The team know where they need to work on.

"It's going to be a constant evolution throughout the championship and as a starting point we can be satisfied."