Autosport 2021 Top 50: #11 Mitch Evans

Mitch Evans topped our standalone Formula E rankings but falls behind Nyck de Vries here since there’s no tandem sportscar campaign to bolster his rating.

But the Kiwi still satisfied four key criteria. One, he delivered a title challenge and his ultimate undoing, stalling in Berlin, was not his fault when the car tripped.

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Two, he did so in a Jaguar that was second-best to Mercedes. Three, mistakes were rare – albeit he committed a costly one when he clonked the wall in New York to lose second place.

Fourth, and most importantly, he bested an experienced and highly rated team-mate in Sam Bird, even if Evans failed to win while the Brit twice tasted victory.

Engineer’s View: How Evans makes the difference

For the duration of his Formula E career, Mitch Evans has never been beaten by his team-mate over a full season. And, as Jaguar Racing has found its groove in recent times, he’s twice been a fierce title contender until the championship rocked up at bogey track Berlin.

A 2012 GP3 Series crown and wins at GP2 level are indicative of speed but pace alone has never been the silver bullet to success in Formula E. Ex-Toro Rosso chief race engineer and current Jaguar technical manager Phil Charles reveals what else Evans brings to the table.

Jaguar technical manager Charles has been impressed with Evans' consistency

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“Formula E is all about braking and he's very precise with his,” says Charles. “They're cars that spend a lot of time moving around when you're slowing them down. He dances the car to the apex. If you can get the car just with the right attitude at the point you need to start thinking about the corner exit, then that returns massive benefits. In exactly that scenario, Mitch really does excel. He has a very strong link between his left foot and his brain.”

Part of the quality of Evans’ campaign was his ability to overcome the seemingly random outcomes of the group qualifying format to find a rare commodity in the form of consistency. That helps explains why his winless year earned fourth in the points as two-time victor and team-mate Sam Bird clocked sixth. Were it not for a start line component failure inside the invertor in Germany, the crown might well have fallen to the Kiwi.

Charles continues: “Mitch put together a really mature season. He knew when to push, when to deliver points and bring the car home – not absolutely go for that last place – and he took percentages in qualifying at the right time.

“The key to Formula E is about consistently being at the right level just below 100%. If you sit at 100%, you will go off because the conditions change so much from corner to corner. And that's where the really good drivers are making the right decisions on a regular basis. Mitch’s season's worth of decision making was really strong.”