Mitch Evans talks about his missed Formula 1 career: "It's a strange sport"

Mitch Evans struggles with fairness in motorsport. In an interview with Total-Motorsport.com, he talks about his missed Formula 1 career and cites two main reasons for this: As a racing driver, he says, you have to bring money with you and be in the right place at the right time when something unpredictable happens.

"It's a strange sport, a strange world but it's not all based on pure performance," says Evans. "It's not like tennis, golf, football where you can share your skills at any moment. It's a weird sport." The New Zealander came to Europe as a teenager in 2011 and won the GP3 title in his second season. Evans was quickly recognised as one of the top talents.

In the higher GP2 class, however, the really big successes didn't really materialise in four years. Evans did flourish again in Formula E: He has finished runner-up twice and third once in the last three years and is one of the best drivers in one of the best grids in motorsport. Despite this, he never got a chance in Formula 1.

"The hardest thing was getting a seat for F1 tests. I've done sim days, been quicker than race drivers and been competitive, but it brings nothing," he explains. Even if all the data and your CV were in your favour, you wouldn't get an opportunity. "It doesn't make any sense. It seems like once every five or six years someone can do that. That's the way it is."

Money makes the world go round

One reason for this, in Evans' view, is the financial background: "A lot of guys get opportunities bring money." He cites F1 rookie Sergio Perez as an example: "He still brings money to Red Bull. He's not a bad driver but when you're going up against that, it's just very hard for anyone to get there on pure, pure merit right now." There are even drivers who pay for a reserve seat in a team. "It's ridiculous," says Evans.

The second requirement: "You just need a freak situation to happen." In addition to Oliver Bearman, who took over the Ferrari from Carlos Sainz Jr. at short notice at this year's Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia, he cites his Formula E colleague Nyck de Vries as an example. The Dutchman had stepped in at the Formula 1 race in Monza and, with a good performance, had earned himself a regular seat at Toro Rosso for the following season.

"He was not going to chance at all for an F1 seat, then he got a free chance when Alex Albon got sick, did a good job and all of a sudden he's the best thing since sliced bread. He's the same driver he's been for all the other years," says the Jaguar driver.

No one disputes that Evans has what it takes to drive in Formula 1. Maybe one day it will work out for the 30-year-old if he wins the Formula E title next year - just like Nyck de Vries did in 2021 before his F1 stint.