Mitch Evans kept his title hopes alive with a hard-fought podium on Sunday at the eleventh round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Jakarta, just a day after he was taken out again by his team-mate.
Saturday’s nightmare put Evans under significant pressure on Sunday, with the Kiwi having entered the day knowing he had to deliver an exceptional result. It was clear in qualifying that he meant business, as the Jaguar TCS Racing driver secured third on the grid. He managed to retain third at the start of the race and actually led briefly in the opening stages, before falling behind winner Maximilian Günther and championship rival Jake Dennis.
It was clear that Evans really didn’t have good race pace, as he quickly slipped well behind the leading duo. Evans was constantly looking in his mirrors as a train formed behind him, with Günther having been a remarkable eighteen seconds up the road by the end of the race. Somehow, Evans held on for the podium to claim his fourth rostrum from the last six races, promoting him to fourth in the standings.
Thanks to his podium, he sits twenty-five points behind new championship leader Pascal Wehrlein with five races remaining, meaning he is still right in the mix. He admitted after the race that the podium was a “huge relief” following Saturday’s woes, where he lost so many points.
“After yesterday’s race, to go home with a trophy and a smile is a huge relief and feels good. We lacked a lot of pace in the race and didn’t have as much energy as Max and Jake ahead, but I was able to hold off those behind me to come home on the podium. Looking forward to racing at the Portland E-Prix for the first time.”
“Another difficult day” – Sam Bird
For Sam Bird, his Sunday was just as miserable as his Saturday, where he punted Evans off the circuit. The Briton endured another poor qualifying and could only manage fourteenth ahead of Sunday’s race, which he didn’t even start.
As the second race of the weekend was about to get underway, Bird suffered a technical issue which resulted in him being wheeled into the pits. He failed to start the race and saw his Jakarta E-Prix end in further misery, with him admitting that it was “another difficult day”.
“Another difficult day today for me. So far this year we’ve been so strong as a team, and won a lot of races, but this weekend we struggled to match the ultimate pace. The podium was some silver lining for the team’s efforts. We’ll all be working really hard to make sure we head to Portland in the best place.”
