Mitch Evans comes into Season 11 of Formula E as one of the favourites for the title, and he will be desperate to reach the top with the Gen3 Evo car.
The Kiwi driver has spent his entire career in the all-electric series with Jaguar, making his debut in the 2016/17 season. In his time with the team, he has claimed 12 wins, nine pole positions and 31 podiums.
Evans quickly established as one of the top talents in the sport, but he has never been able to go that step further and clinch the title. The 30-year-old has finished in the top three of the standings in the last three seasons, coming second twice.
Season 10 was particularly painful for the Kiwi driver. While Jaguar won the Teams’ Championship over Porsche, the German outfit’s Pascal Wehrlein beat Evans by a mere six points to the title after the season finale in London.
As Formula E enters a new era, the 30-year-old is hoping the new technology will propel him to the championship and make him feel, as he put it on talkSPORT’s On Track Podcast, like Max Verstappen.
Mitch Evans says the four-wheel drive capability with the Gen3 Evo will make him feel like Max Verstappen with Attack Mode
Season 11 will see the debut of the Gen3 Evo car, which will be the fastest car in the series’ history. The drivers and teams got their first look at the new machine last week in pre-season testing at the Jarama Circuit in Madrid.
One of the main talking points about the Gen3 Evo is it’s four-wheel drive capability and how that will effect the sport’s Attack Mode system. Drivers have complained about the extra power boost being limited due to previous machinery creating ‘peloton-style racing’ with energy preservation being key.
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Now, with four-wheel drive, Attack Mode’s extra power should be more advantageous according to Evans and will make him feel like three-time F1 champion Verstappen, making reference to the Dutchman stunning drive for 17th to win at Sao Paulo.
Talking about the complaints drivers had made about Attack Mode in the past, Evans said: “Some of that is because strategically, with how the races have been the last few years, it’s kind of peloton-style racing, sometimes it’s easier to get out of the way.
“On the other hand, it’s been very hard to use that extra power, because once we get into the race the tyres are quite hot, we become traction limited and that extra power is a lot of torque and 350kW.
“So that advantage you got, it’s very hard to use that traction because you are kind of just wheel spinning. So, now with that four-wheel drive, we’ll get huge traction with that extra power, so you’ll start to see, yeah, I’ll start to feel like Max for once.”
Mitch Evans set the fastest time of pre-season testing in Madrid
Pre-season testing is not really anything to go by in terms of a final order for the teams ahead of the new season. This will be especially the case this year in FE, as no one knows where their rivals are with the new machinery.
But at the end of testing on Friday, it was Evans who topped the time sheets in the morning session with the fastest time of the week.
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The Kiwi driver will be searching for his first FE title after coming narrowly close to doing so over the last three seasons. But he will be facing competition from the Porsche cars and his Jaguar teammate Nick Cassidy, who has finished second and third in the last two seasons.
The Porsche factory team looked on the pace in Madrid, while new customer team Kiro Race Co hugely impressed with their old spec powertrain from the German manufacturer.
With the revolutionary capabilities of the Gen3 Evo, Jaguar will be hoping it gives them the edge over their rivals and push for the driver’s title.