Jaguar remains without points again at the Miami E-Prix: "A hughely frustrating race"

Jaguar TCS Racing continues to fall short of its own expectations and standards in the 2024-25 Formula E World Championship. As in the Mexico City E-Prix and the first race of the double header in Jeddah, the reigning team world champions also failed to score a single championship point on the Formula E return to Miami. In addition to the lack of pace in qualifying, this was also simply due to the fact that both drivers had bad luck.

The weekend got off to a very positive start for Jaguar in the first free practice session on Friday afternoon with positions 1 and 4. Evans was fourth again in the second free practice session, which certainly gave hope for qualifying. However, this was followed by great disillusionment: both Jaguar drivers missed out on qualifying in seventh place in their respective groups, leaving them in 13th and 14th place on the grid.

Both drivers lose time of their attack mode

In the race, the two New Zealanders in Jaguar service remained unremarkable for long stretches. Cassidy lost around one and a half minutes of his first Attack Mode activation due to the first safety car phase. Shortly afterwards, he received a five-second time penalty for ignoring the track limits in turn 12 three times.

Just a few moments later, Evans was in the wrong place at the wrong time: he activated his second attack mode over six minutes and around 30 seconds later, he was involved in the collision between Buemi, Hughes and Günther in the chicane that occurred in front of him. Evans pushed the DS Penske onto the Maserati and lost a lot of ground on the blocked track. Race control stopped the race, Evans also lost his attack mode and had to restart the race from 20th position.

In the remaining four laps, he could do little from the back of the field without attack mode. Although Cassidy crossed the finish line in eighth place, he was set back a long way due to his time penalty and the close time gaps in the field. In the final race result, the two Jaguar drivers finished 15th and 16th respectively.

After the race, both drivers were tight-lipped: "Today had potential and it was exciting to race in Miami, but unfortunately, I got caught up in an incident with Jake and Max, so it was a disappointing race for me," said Evans after the race.

"A hugely frustrating race today with safety cars and the track limits penalty," confirms his team-mate Cassidy. "The weekend started positively. The car felt good on Friday, and we were quick, but today we struggled to get the performance we know we need. We’ll review together, then we look to Monaco where we go again."

Barclay: "Some positive signs of progress"

"For a combination of factors, some in and some out of our control, we didn't get the result we were capable of today," explains Jaguar team principal James Barclay, who will leave the team after the season and join the WEC programme of McLaren. "Ultimately the safety car and accident, which resulted in the red flag, compromised our race with both cars."

"It can happen but it makes it no less frustrating when it impacts both drivers," admits Barclay. "We weren't the only ones in the pitlane that will be feeling this way after a lot of hard work. There were some positive signs of progress though and also some key learnings which we will take away and turn into performance for the rest of the season. Eyes forward and we now look ahead to Monaco for a race we all love and what will be an historic weekend, as we take to the track for not one, but two days of racing through the streets of the iconic principality."

Evans agrees: "It's time to look ahead to Monaco, my home race. I won there last year, but there is still more work to do to get us to where we want to be."

Jaguar is only eighth in the teams' standings after five races of the season with just 35 points. Porsche is already 70 points off the lead. The next two races take place on 3 and 4 May in Monaco. The team has fond memories of the Principality: Jaguar celebrated a one-two victory here in 2024.