After brake problems for Evans: Jaguar narrowly avoids disaster in Jeddah thanks to Cassidy

Jaguar is barely recognisable in the 2024/25 Formula E World Championship. The reigning team champion has obviously fallen far behind. In Jeddah, Jaguar's problems were even more evident than in previous races: Mitch Evans failed to score points in both races. Nick Cassidy, who has never made it into the qualifying duels, was at least able to limit the damage on Saturday with fifth place.

The second day in Jeddah got off to a difficult start for the two New Zealanders. Evans put together a few good laps in practice, but Cassidy did not, which frustrated him. On the radio he said to his team: "How do I politely say that I want what my team-mate has?" Team boss James Barclay cleared up any favouritism in an interview afterwards: "We try different set-ups in a session like this. Nick really wanted to try the same as Mitch, but we couldn't adapt that during the session."

In qualifying, the two Jaguars were at least almost as slow. In the end, it was only enough for grid positions 15 and 17. The qualifying pace has been Jaguar's biggest weakness so far in season 11: Evans started from fifth place at least twice, Cassidy's best result of the season so far was a ninth place.

Jaguar impresses with good race strategy

Despite these problems, Jaguar was always able to push forward in the race and fight for top results. This was also the case in the second Jeddah race. Cassidy had already proven in the last two seasons that energy-saving races with a lot of slipstreaming suit him. He was the first driver in the top 10 to activate his second attack mode. This strategy led him into the top 3, but afterwards he had to keep the drivers with attack mode behind him.

Since some of the drivers urgently needed to save energy at the end of the race despite the attack mode and Cassidy was able to overtake both Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne in the final metres thanks to his surplus energy, he crossed the finish line in fifth place. It was his first points of the season. He knew exactly who he had to thank: "Our strategy team is the best in the pit lane. So I always have a lot of confidence because I have them on my side."

Technical problems ruin podium chances for Evans

Things went even better for Evans in the race. He was able to fight his way into the top eight with attack mode and additional surplus energy. From this position, team boss Barclay saw the potential for a podium finish: "Mitch and his crew looked incredibly strong. He had more energy than the cars in front of him and with his final attack mode we could all sense a possible podium."

But that didn't happen because he had to park his car in the final laps. The reason for this was a defective brake-by-wire system, which prevented him from continuing. Evans was consequently disappointed after the race: "We had so much potential today and it would have been close because I had more energy left compared to the guys around me and also an attack mode activation when I had the problem with the brake-by-wire system."

The focus is now on closing the big gap to Nissan. Jaguar now has just under two months to do so before Formula E returns to the track in Miami on 12 April. Cassidy is fighting back: "Our season starts now!