Mitch Evans left Race 1 of the 2026 Monaco E-Prix with another reminder of why the Principality has become one of his strongest venues in Formula E.
The Jaguar TCS Racing driver finished second behind Nyck de Vries, who delivered Mahindra Racing’s first win of the GEN3 era. Evans’ result marked another Monaco podium and moved him into the lead of the Drivers’ World Championship after a chaotic race around the tight streets of Monte Carlo.
Strategy battle shapes Evans’ race
Speaking in the post-race press conference attended by Pit Debrief, Evans admitted Monaco has always been a circuit he enjoys, especially in Formula E.
“I’ve always loved it, yeah. It’s great to race here. Especially in Formula E because it’s quite entertaining, quite exciting,” Evans said.
However, despite another strong result at the venue, the New Zealander felt he could have attacked the early phase of the race more aggressively.
“It’s very hard from a strategy point of view to get it right. Today was just a solid race. I was maybe a little bit too cautious in the opening laps before the pit window. I lost out to António [Félix da Costa]. Then I kind of did one of those small positions, got my elbows out of the wall.”
Evans manages ATTACK MODE phase
Evans had to navigate a race shaped heavily by PIT BOOST and ATTACK MODE strategy. De Vries took his mandatory stop early and executed the key phase of the race cleanly, while Evans had to work his way back into contention after losing ground to da Costa.
“I was hoping that there wouldn’t be many cars doing my strategy. Obviously, Nyck [de Vries] and Max [Günther] did the same. I was right behind Max. Then he went for attack mode on the out lap.
“Then he got stuck behind Pascal [Wehrlein] and a couple of cars. I got down the road so I was able to clear him. I was obviously racing down António and then opposite strategy. I managed to get António just.”
Once Evans moved into second, he recognised de Vries had already built a useful advantage. The Mahindra driver had shown strong pace throughout the day, and Evans knew he could not afford to overextend himself in pursuit of victory.
“I knew with Nyck he had a good advantage. I think he almost had the full attack mode on us. I knew I was not going to be able to put a huge amount of pressure on him. Plus, he had been super quick today. After that, I just wanted to bring him home and beat him.”
Evans avoids late-race chaos
Behind him, Dan Ticktum and da Costa battled for what looked like the final podium position. Their fight ended in contact at Turn 10, with da Costa retiring from the race and Ticktum later dropping out of the podium places after receiving a penalty. Evans said he had not seen the incident unfold live.
“I had no idea that happened. Luckily, I wasn’t close to them. It could have been worse, I guess. I didn’t know that that happened. My engineer came on the radio to tell me. I just saw the replay quickly. It’s kind of hard to judge. I think Dan [Ticktum] got the penalty right for it.”
Evans also spared a thought for da Costa, who had looked set for a strong result before the clash.
“It was a shame with António. It was probably not going to be a big day for the team. He drove really well. He was great at the start. He will bounce back tomorrow. Great points for me.”
Championship lead brings no complacency
Those points proved particularly valuable. Evans’ second place finish at Race 1 of the Monaco E-Prix gave him the championship lead, but the Jaguar driver refused to get carried away with his new position at the top of the standings. He pointed to Wehrlein and Edoardo Mortara’s difficult races as proof of how quickly fortunes can change in Formula E.
“Things can turn so quick. I just want to try and take it race by race. It sounds cliché, but it’s true. I just want to try and build on it tomorrow if I can.”
“I’m going to be quick first and then try to keep my nose clean. I got a few hits today, and I actually thought I had a puncture on point from Pascal, but I got away with it. It can happen so quickly. You can be totally innocent as well. Hopefully, I’ll be able to clean one tomorrow, pick up some more points, and then move on to the next one.”
Jaguar targets Mahindra before Race 2
With Race 2 still to come on Sunday, Evans knows Jaguar will need to find more performance if it wants to challenge Mahindra again. De Vries’ victory underlined the strength of the Indian manufacturer around Monaco.
“It’s just been a solid day. I’m going to work tomorrow to catch up to the Mahindras. They’ve been rapid. I just want to sleep well tonight and come back tomorrow.”
