Jaguar leaves Sao Paulo without points: "Not the start to the season I was hoping for"

After finishing a close second in all three classifications in the eleventh season of the Formula E World Championship, Jaguar's start to the final season of the Gen3 era has been rather difficult. Mitch Evans failed to finish the Sao Paulo E-Prix after an accident, while Antonio Felix da Costa narrowly missed out on the points in 11th place after being hit by Pepe Marti and having to have his Jaguar repaired.

Jaguar starts the new year without points after the first race of the season. The departure of long-serving team principal James Barclay and top performer Nick Cassidy is clearly noticeable - at least in terms of results. For the first time since the first race of the Shanghai E-Prix, the team failed to score any championship points.

Ex-Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa put in a strong performance in the first qualifying session for his new team and made it into the duel phase in his group. Team-mate Mitch Evans missed out by just 54 thousandths of a second and started ninth. Felix da Costa was subsequently beaten in the first duel with Jake Dennis, but started the race from a solid sixth place.

Both Jaguar drivers involved in collisions

The race ended prematurely for Evans. The New Zealander was hit from behind early in the race and was later involved in another collision when he landed in the wall while attempting to overtake Sebastien Buemi in the Envision. The accident triggered the second full-course yellow phase of the race. Evans was merely a passenger in his own car in this situation and had no opportunity to take evasive action.

"Today was tough," says Mitch Evans. "What started out as a clean and promising start to the race, with both myself and Antonio running strongly for a while, was short-lived after another driver collided into me, massively compromising my pace and effectively ending my race. It's clearly not the start to the season I was hoping for, but it was good to get back out on track this weekend and we'll push ahead to the next round in the New Year."

For Felix da Costa, things looked good for a long time: The Portuguese was on course for points behind his previous team-mate Pascal Wehrlein, but was hit by Pepe Marti in the full-course yellow triggered by Evans with a high speed differential, of all things. The FIA subsequently asked the team to repair the damaged rear section of the Jaguar, which is why Felix da Costa dropped out of the points. As the race only lasted one more lap, there was no time left to improve his position.

"First of all, I am glad that Pepe is OK," said Felix da Costa after the race. "Seeing him come over the top of my car I was worried for him, so I was relieved that he was not hurt. He came and apologised after the race - so there's no issue. Looking at the positives - we were strong in quali and race on pace, and while there's work to do, I'll be ready to fight in Mexico!"

Team Principal James: "A disappointing result"

"Clearly, a disappointing result on a day when the Jaguar I-Type 7 showed strong pace in the hands of both Mitch and Antonio with the potential so score strongly," said Jaguar Team Principal Ian James. "It's often a chaotic race here, and that went against us today. Before the first safety car and with seven laps to go, Antonio was looking in contention for a podium, but the safety car negated his Attack Mode."

"For Mitch it was also a difficult day, as contact towards the mid-point of the race left with a very poor balance," James continued. "Even so, after the first safety car he still had an Attack Mode remaining so come the restart he was moving forward toward a likely strong points finish, before a further incident ended his race. We’ll now reset quickly, with our focus immediately switching to round two in Mexico."

After the first race weekend, the focus is now on the next race in Mexico City on 10 January. This will be the next opportunity to gain more experience with the package and further refine the processes. It remains to be seen how this work will affect performance - but it is clear that every additional race weekend will provide important insights.