Evans "still sore" but "not a bad overall result" after Portland podium, Cassidy's lead melts away

With a little anger in his belly, some mountains have been moved - as was the case for Mitch Evans in Sunday's race in Portland. After he lost the victory the day before, he came back just as strongly on the second day of racing in the USA and finished on the podium. As a result, he significantly reduced the gap to team-mate Nick Cassidy in the championship battle and is now level on points with Pascal Wehrlein in second place.

The second Formula E Portland race was much more of a challenge due to the shortening of the race distance by one lap. The drivers quickly realised this too: while it was still a valid strategy the day before to drive at the back of the field for as long as possible and then push forwards with a surplus of energy, this was hardly possible on Sunday.

"It was really difficult to get to the front in the race, I had to constantly extend my elbows," reported Jaguer driver Mitch Evans. "That's why I had hoped for a better qualifying." From 11th on the grid, the New Zealander had several riders ahead of him that he had to overtake.

After 20 laps, he had reached the top positions. "I had hoped to get to the front earlier and then had my attack mode open until just before the end because I never got into a position to use it well." This was particularly detrimental in terms of energy management in the final phase: "I always had a small energy cushion, but that was lost as a result."

As a result, he was also unable to seriously fight for second place with Robin Frijns, but only had one goal in mind: "Simply survive to bring the car home." He therefore had a strong weekend shortly before the season finale in London, even if the result that remained only tells part of the story.

He has reduced the gap to his team-mate Nick Cassidy in the championship to twelve points and is now in second place, level on points with Pascal Wehrlein. Without the five-second time penalty on Saturday, he would even be leading the overall standings - which makes the impact of this penalty all the more drastic. "The decision still really hurts, it won't go away overnight. For me, the overall result is still not bad, even though I feel very sorry for Nick."

Cassidy: "Of course I was frustrated"

After a serious mistake the day before, the championship leader was taken out of the race on Sunday through no fault of his own. On lap 14, he was pushed into the rear of one of the Andrettis by Mitch Evans. "At the time of the contact, I had a really good strategy and was in ninth place with more energy than the majority of the field. I was obviously frustrated in the heat of the moment, but that's quite normal."

The New Zealander drove into the pit lane with a damaged front wing. He then drove a few laps at the back of the field and increased his energy cushion to around five per cent. The safety car pushed the field together again a few laps before the end and it briefly looked as if he could use this to make up a few positions. But the expected attack in the final laps failed to materialise, perhaps there was a problem with the car after all. So he went home empty-handed.

"I may have scored zero points in two races, but it could be much worse. I have a twelve-point lead, but it's going to be a battle."