Mitch Evans turned a 17th-place starting position into one of the most striking victories of Formula E’s 12th season at Race 2 of the Berlin E-Prix. The Jaguar TCS Racing driver kept his composure through a tense Race at Tempelhof, timed his Attack Mode usage to perfection, and held off Oliver Rowland and Pascal Wehrlein in the closing laps to take the chequered flag.
It was the kind of drive that has come to mark his time in Formula E, and afterwards, Evans spoke to Pit Debrief to break down how it all came together.
A controlled charge through the chaos
From inside the cockpit, the race did not feel quite as wild as it looked from the outside. While the lead group shuffled almost lap by lap, Evans largely ran in clear air, focusing on building an energy advantage and waiting for the right window to strike.
“It was a tough race to execute, but relatively straightforward on the other hand. Because I was kind of by myself for a lot of it, just watching the chaos unfold in front of me. Trying to get, you know, energy advantage like you need to do if you start out of position like that,” he told Pit Debrief.
The decisive factor was the timing of his Attack Mode usage, where the Jaguar TCS Racing pit wall delivered with precision.
“Then it was just a matter of just clear comms with the team to find that go time on attack and I think we timed it perfectly. Full credit to my strategy guys for timing that well. And then just managing the, you know, obviously we had an alternative strategy to the other guys with the attack modes.”
That alternative approach left Evans running on a different rhythm to many of his rivals, and once his second Attack Mode boost ran its course, the rest of the race became a question of looking after the car.
“Running out at different times to finish our eight minutes. And then once that was done, it was a bit of battery management, temp management. But yeah, it was, you know, from that point it was relatively straightforward.”
A win to add to the highlight reel
Evans’s Formula E career already features a handful of spectacular comebacks, so where this one fits is a question even he could not fully answer. He stopped short of crowning it the standout moment, but he was happy to nudge it into the conversation.
“Whenever you start towards the back and win is always pretty big. They’re all important. It’s hard to know where they stack up, but I think it’s got to be out there, right?”
A different test waiting in Monaco
There is little time to dwell. The championship now rolls on to Monaco, a venue where Evans has previously tasted success but where the racing offers very different opportunities to those Tempelhof provided. When asked whether he felt confident of replicating his Berlin heroics in the principality, he admitted, “Yes and no.”
“Look, I’ve got a bit of work to do just for my quali pace. Which, you know, I think, you know, a track like Monaco, track position is always nice to have. The style of racing there could be a little bit different.”
More action in Monaco
When the comparison turned to Formula 1 racing in Monaco, where overtaking is famously almost impossible, Evans was quick to note that Formula E has historically delivered far more action around the same streets, although it still does not match the freedom of a circuit like Tempelhof.
“No, 100%. Compared to F1, it’s night and day. But compared to let’s say Berlin, it’s not as aggressive in terms of being able to do the race I did today. So qualifying towards the front is going to be more critical and that’s what I’m lacking in the moment.”
The diagnosis, in his own words, is straightforward. Race pace is in a good place. The single-lap performance is not.
“So confident in ways, confident that I know I’m good there. But we’ve just been lacking on that one lap pace that I need to work out.”
For now, however, Evans can savour the Formula E Berlin E-Prix Race 2 triumph, that ranks among the most spectacular drives of the Formula E season so far. From 17th on the grid to the top step of the podium, the Jaguar TCS Racing driver produced exactly the kind of performance that has come to define his time in the all-electric series.
