Can Formula E's nearly man finally get his crown?

May’s Monaco E-Prix firmly thrust Jaguar into Formula E title contention, with record race winner Mitch Evans leading the charge for the British manufacturer. With seven races remaining, Evans holds a sizeable 19-point lead in the drivers’ championship, while Jaguar is 24 clear of Porsche in the teams’ standings. 

Jaguar has been enjoying such a strong run of form lately that it is easy to forget it started the season with two non-scores in Sao Paulo and Mexico City. Ironically, it was ex-Jaguar driver Nick Cassidy who stole the show with the rebranded Citroen team when the 2025-26 campaign got under way, and Stellantis and Porsche emerged as the early benchmarks.

For Jaguar, even victory for Evans in the rain-hit Miami E-Prix didn’t completely change the team’s outlook, with the Kiwi himself attributing the result more towards weather than a sudden turnaround in form.

But there was still optimism within a camp that had bounced back from much bigger setbacks. Only in the previous season, Jaguar had rebounded from an even worse opening phase to win five out of the final six races. This year, Jaguar managed to steady the ship before the damage became terminal, and Evans has been consistently strong since the team found the sweet spot with the I-Type 7. 

In the seven races from the Jeddah meeting to the recent Monaco double-header, Evans has outscored his closest rival by 25 points. Include his early Miami win in the sample size and the advantage balloons to 43 – a remarkable feat in a series that rewards consistency.

February’s Jeddah event was the first real indication that Evans was ready for another title challenge, when he charged from 10th on the grid to finish on the podium. But it was in March’s inaugural Madrid E-Prix where he truly shone above the rest, fighting from 16th to second behind team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa. Only a late team order prevented him from mounting a victory bid.

But converting Evans’s points advantage into a long-awaited first title won’t be straightforward, not when qualifying remains a significant weakness. There were signs of progress in Monaco, where he twice progressed to the duels, but it remains to be seen whether the days of qualifying outside the top 12 are truly behind him.

Evans showed his mettle in Madrid with fightback from 16th to second place

Photo by: Malcolm Griffiths / LAT Images via Getty Images

Evans is also up against some very strong opposition. Reigning champion Oliver Rowland has emerged as his closest rival in second, having so far built his title challenge with Nissan around peaks rather than consistency. Edoardo Mortara is arguably enjoying his best season to date, though it’s been almost four years since the Mahindra driver scored a race win.

Even so, his team finally broke through at Monaco, with Nyck de Vries winning the opening race, but the M12 Electro package still lacks the efficiency to sustain a title challenge.

Hence, the biggest threat might still come from Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein. While the German has struggled to replicate his early season form, his poor run of recent results was largely out of his control. A puncture following contact with Jake Dennis denied him a potential victory in Berlin, while he was rear-ended by his own team-mate Nico Muller in Monaco.

Evans has played a central role in Jaguar’s rise from a backmarker to Formula E force and has seemed like a team fixture

Evans may have to overcome more than just his on-track rivals to finally secure a championship that has eluded him for almost a decade. He’s played a central role in Jaguar’s rise from a backmarker to Formula E force and has seemed like a team fixture.

But those painful title defeats in London strained the relationship and left Evans feeling let down by the team. Even the arrival of Ian James as team principal did not entirely ease the tensions behind the scenes.

Jaguar, too, is facing a complicated scenario. Evans is leaving for Opel at the end of the season, and the team is building its future around new signing da Costa, who is too far back in the points standings to meaningfully challenge.

In any other scenario, a title would be the perfect ending to a decade-long relationship. But if Evans comes out on top at the season finale in August, the result might be rather bittersweet for some people in Oxfordshire.

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Painful title defeats include London 2024, when Evans felt his own team was working against him

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images