Mitch Evans now has five seasons with Jaguar TCS Racing around the streets of Monaco in Formula E under his belt. Each time he's finished higher in the race, with the last two years ending in podium finishes. However, this year his targets were firmly on the win.
"I was feeling relatively good during the race," Evans said after the race, where he finished second for a second consecutive year. "The strategy involved meant car positioning is absolutely critical. You’ve got everyone doing different things to try and predict everyone else’s races. It’s really tricky to navigate because some guys are doing some wacky stuff and just trying to keep out of certain people’s races is not always easy.
Despite his best efforts, Evans did make contact around the iconic street circuit.
"I felt strong but got some big wing damage which affected me slightly. I was lucky to get away with it. I made a silly judgement behind Dan Ticktum (NIO 333). I'll probably hear about that on Team Radio when that edit comes out in a couple of days."
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Evans managed to make his way up the grid, starting from sixth to lead early on in the race. A fantastic battle between Evans, Cassidy and the Avalanche Andretti of Jake Dennis made for some brilliant viewing as the three dared to pass each other around the famous street circuit. Despite a late-race energy advantage following the Safety Car, Evans couldn't make a move for the lead stick.
"There were moments in the race where I thought the win was for me," he added. "The switch into leading I thought was maybe slightly early but I was feeling good and I felt like I had a slight energy advantage on Nick and Jake (Dennis) was coming in pretty hot as well.
"I wasn’t expecting Nick to attack when he did – I’d have defended harder if I could run it again, and been more aware. If I’d kept him behind for a couple more laps I think it would have been a different story.
"Our energy targets became quite high at the end so we kind of became a bit locked out. There are a few moments in the race I wish I could do again to try for a different outcome but it is what it is.
"He timed it right though and full credit to him and his crew – it’s yet another almost for me this year. The bigger picture is it’s 18 points towards the championship."
After his two back-to-back wins in São Paulo and Berlin, and now another podium finish in Monaco, Evans sits fourth in the Drivers' World Championship. Two points ahead of him are Dennis, with TAG Heuer Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein now being demoted to second in the standings as Cassidy takes the top spot.
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When asked what he could do to maintain Jaguar's strong performances throughout the season, Evans replied: "Just keep doing what we've been doing."
"We're always improving. The Porsches, Envisions and Andrettis are super quick, especially in the races. They still have an advantage over us in the race regarding efficiency or energy advantage. We are getting better over a lap to start further up, but nowadays, that doesn't matter as much. I'm going to keep improving and keep charging on."