Mitch Evans was furious after Friday evening’s Diriyah E-Prix, about a lack of action by the stewards in regard to his two incidents with Jean-Éric Vergne. He slammed the non-response as “ridiculous”.
Evans started the first race of the double-header from second on the grid, after being defeated by Vergne in the Final. The Kiwi made a good start and clearly had strong pace, as he was able to close gaps with ease.
However, on Lap 5, he had his first incident with Vergne, when activating his first Attack Mode. In Diriyah, the exit of the Attack Mode detection zone is on the racing line, with Evans having been forced into the wall by Vergne on the exit of Turn 19 (where the Attack Mode is located).
How the two drivers avoided damage is staggering, although Evans did lose the position to the DS Penske driver. The incident was noted by the stewards; however, no investigation took place. Vergne and Evans continued to squabble which simply allowed Jake Dennis to escape into the distance, with the Briton having won by 13.2 seconds.
Evans had better pace than Vergne and actually got past him mid-race at Turn 18, and quickly caught Dennis. Dennis was actually almost overtaken by Evans at the same corner a lap later, only for the Jaguar TCS Racing driver to run deep into the corner. It was this specific moment which allowed the reigning World Champion to truly escape.
The error cost Evans, as he fell back behind Vergne. He remained behind the Frenchman for the remainder of the race, before trying a final dive up the inside at Turn 18 on the last lap. Evans quickly realised he was going to run deep into the corner again; however, his situation suddenly worsened following a “double move” under braking from Vergne.
This sent Evans even deeper into the corner, demoting him from third to fifth as a result. This incident was also not investigated or noted for that matter. Evans was furious after the race and believes what Vergne did was “average”.
“Yeah, I was feeling comfortable,” Evans told Motorsport Week after the race. “A couple laps throughout the first phase where I thought the balance was going away from me, but it kind of recovered. Energy wise, all good.
“Just around the Attack Modes, I think we didn’t play it correctly and that’s what costs us the victory. And then, obviously, having a few cracks down the inside at 18. Some paid off, some didn’t. Unfortunately, didn’t pay off me in the end. But the double-move at the end, I think, was average from JEV.
“It made me get sideways and then it just kind of made it all a bit worse. And I ran further, deeper into the escape road. And also, obviously, the rejoin with the Attack [Mode], he just drove me into the wall. If it wasn’t for that, it would’ve been my corner, the little kink, because he would have to back out of it. Yeah, disappointing. But sometimes that’s where it goes.”
Evans’ first incident with Vergne has been seen several times in the past, both in Diriyah and at other circuits. Attack Modes where the exit is on the racing line is simply asking for accidents; however, Evans believes the drivers have formed somewhat of a rule for those situations.
According to Evans, the drivers understand that in those situations, the driver activating Attack Mode has the racing line, meaning the other should back off or at least “give the guy or each other room”. The 29-year-old is certain Vergne didn’t follow this and was intent on driving Evans into the wall.
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve had it in the past at other tracks, and we’ve seen accidents before, but I feel like we’ve kind of passed that, and we know that if there’s an overlap, you got to give the guy room or each other room,” said Evans. “And he clearly didn’t give me room, so there’s contact. The stewards barely looked at it, which is, I think, astonishing.
“I had two options there, because he literally had the intention to drive me in the wall. I can back out, hit his right where he’s in the wall, stay where I am, or if we don’t make contact, obviously, then I get the position because I wouldn’t have lost momentum. So it just sets a bad precedent in my point of view.”
In terms of the second incident, Evans knew he was going to run deep quite quickly but was expecting to only drop back behind Vergne and finish third. What he didn’t expect, was Vergne to move twice under braking. This led to Evans losing the rear and dropping to fifth.
“Yeah, I mean, it would have been okay. Like, I may have just lost the position back to him, but the double-move was super late, and I lost the rear because of it,” explained Evans. “And it just kind of compounded the issue that I had, which was obviously the lack of grip, but I was aware of that.
“I was doing it all race, so if anything, he just would have passed me back. And by the fact that he double-moved, I was already obviously struggling for grip being on the inside. And then he did that, and it just made it worse, and that’s why all the guys got past me. Otherwise, I either would have made the move stick or he would have just got back past me and I would have finished third.”
It’s difficult to judge whether the New Zealander is more annoyed at Vergne or the stewards, who he admits he’s “always lacked confidence in”. It’s not the first time the stewards’ actions have gone against Evans, as he was slapped with a five-second time penalty in Diriyah last season following an incident with René Rast, even though Rast maintained the spot.
He believes there is “enough evidence” that the stewards have made “some random calls”, something he believes is simply “ridiculous”, as is the fact that neither incident with Vergne was investigated.
|I’ve always lacked confidence in the stewards,” Evans admitted. “I think there’s enough evidence out there over the years that they just make some random calls. Like at the start of the race two years ago, sorry, a year ago with Rast, I had a brake issue. I rubbed wheels with René, he didn’t lose any positions.
“I actually lost a position. I get a five second-penalty. It’s ridiculous. But then you got instances like that where me and JEV make contact, doesn’t even get looked at. That’s just a couple of stories for me, but for me, it’s always a bit random, you know? Anyway, it is what it is.”
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