Sensational start to Formula E season after thrilling victory from back of the grid

There was a feeling in the air ahead of the new Formula E season that it was going to be a close and spectacular first race. But I don’t think anyone would have believed someone could win it from the very back of the grid. Yet that’s what happened in São Paulo. And that someone was Jaguar TCS Racing with Mitch Evans pulling off a memorable victory and ensuring that the Jaguar I-type 7 became a winner straight out of the box.

Motor sport is always full of twists and turns. I often think that fairy tales don’t exist within it and I am more of a believer that hard work and determination brings opportunity. I believe it even more now because of how Mitch and the team pulled off a remarkable win. We headed in to the race in such a lowly position on the grid after several issues in the free practice sessions and then in qualifying. Starting at the back is not ideal and it makes you nervous for the race, and you never think you can go from the back to the front, not even in Formula E where overtaking and the sporting format in general makes the racing unpredictable. That’s because the competition is just so tough out there, which makes it even sweeter that everything came together.

Last month I described how the technical package has changed this season, especially with the arrival of the occasional all-wheel-drive element at certain stages of the sporting format and also the new tyres from Hankook. These have generated a scenario where the extra power in the eight minutes of 350kW running during the race is now much more potent than the last two seasons.

“Jaguar is not a heritage brand, but it’s a brand with great heritage”

It really made a difference to this element of the strategy. That, combined with the usual cocktail of some rub of the green throughout the race but most importantly some excellent strategy by Jaguar TCS Racing, ensured we were able to give something special.

The first turning point was when Mitch pulled off a few genius moves in the opening exchanges. Overtaking five cars into Turn 4 without Attack Mode (at 300kW) gave us some great track position. That progress meant Mitch was able to be efficient with his energy and overtakes on his first Attack Mode as well. The strategy played out well for both Mitch and Nick Cassidy as they optimised their package and got to the front in an efficient manner.

Nick had a brilliant start to the race, actually coming out of his first Attack Mode in the lead and that was even more than we predicted or expected. We knew the Attack Mode power would have a big effect; we’ve seen that in our simulations but still it was a refreshing change from the last two seasons when you effectively just wanted to get the Attack Modes out of the way because it was difficult to make the most of the extra power for traction reasons.

Nick and Mitch were in a great position but Oliver Rowland’s Nissan was strong as he had left his last Attack Mode phase for later.

When he had to serve a penalty, we were running 1-2. But then Nick suffered contact with a rival and it broke the steering of his car, which tipped him into Pascal Wehrlein’s Porsche and triggered a pretty spectacular accident. It was a relief to see Pascal emerge uninjured from that but it meant there was a red flag, a re-start and a sprint finish.

Mitch then drove superbly to hold off a marauding pack to execute his 13th ePrix win and join Lucas di Grassi and Sébastien Buemi as the joint most victorious driver in Formula E. It was testament to everyone’s hard work at the track and back at base.

The run up to São Paulo saw Jaguar hit the headlines with the reveal of the Jaguar Type 00 design vision concept. If you study the achievements of Jaguar, it’s been at its best when looking forward. We became the most talked-about brand in the world with a bold and disruptive campaign ahead of the reveal in Miami – I attended with Nick and Mitch.

Clearly it sparked debates, but it left a clear picture of the future trajectory of Jaguar, which is as a modern luxury all-electric car company. This re-imagining of Jaguar is rooted in some elements of the past too. Jaguar is not a heritage brand, but it’s a brand with great heritage and, just like in motor sport, what’s most important is what’s coming next. From that perspective, it’s a motivating time as a team to see passionate discussion around Jaguar.

The focus for us competing in the pinnacle of electric racing is showcasing Jaguar’s development of electric-vehicle technology in the toughest of environments. It’s a compelling story – developing world-class technology, proving it on the racetrack to then transfer to those future Jaguar road cars. We’re the flag bearer for future technology and helping to promote that in a highly competitive environment is a positive challenge.

What we are seeing now is more people talking about Jaguar than ever before. We’re taking Jaguar to new audiences, demonstrating that Jaguar is a future-facing brand, and also a successful one on the race tracks of the world, which within the framework of high level all-electric competition, like the São Paulo ePrix, is one hell of a thrill ride.

Formula E in association with