Cassidy's stunning start 'not frustrating' – Evans

Mitch Evans has endured a challenging start to Formula E Season 10 for reasons completely out of his control, with the Kiwi having had something happen to him in every race so far this year.

In Mexico City, Evans suffered from a steering issue during the race, which resulted in him being unable to challenge the podium places; instead, he had to defend fifth place like a lion.

Four weeks ago in Diriyah, Evans was in contention to win the first race of the double-header, only for two incidents with Jean-Eric Vergne to ruin his chances. The duo were battling for second when Evans was initially forced into a wall in the first half of the race by Vergne.

On the final lap, Vergne then moved twice under braking, whilst Evans was diving up his inside at Turn 18. The double Formula E Champion's questionable defensive move resulted in Evans going very deep into the corner, demoting him from third to fifth as a result.

A day later in the second race in the Middle East, a costly issue with the car in qualifying meant he started the race in a poor P13. Prior to qualifying, Evans had topped Free Practice 3. With overtaking in Diriyah having been almost impossible, the Jaguar driver only recovered to P10.

The pace has been there for Evans, who currently sits fifth in the Drivers' Championship as a result of the troubles he's faced. Had none of the incidents happened, then Evans would likely be right behind the current championship leader.

That is his new teammate and great friend Nick Cassidy, who has settled into the factory Jaguar outfit in some style. Cassidy has also been quick at every round but is yet to face a setback.

He finished third in Mexico City, third in the opening race in Diriyah after capitalising on Evans and Vergne's fight and then won the second race on the outskirts of the Saudi Arabian capital.

As a result, Cassidy leads the championship by 19 points, whilst the team also lead the Constructors' Championship. With that in mind, RacingNews365 asked Evans about how he's dealt with Cassidy's strong start to the season, given that whilst they are close friends he is also his teammate and likely title rival.

Not being first and second 'more frustrating'

"It's not really frustrating for me," Evans said. "I think what the frustrating thing is, is that we could be like one and two in the championship, and we're not. Nick's done a great job in the first three races, he's settled in really, really nice for the team.

"And I think that's not really surprising because he's familiar with the package from last year at Envision, and he's transitioned into the team really well. So yeah, and he's really just gelled well with the Gen3 car and so I'm not overly surprised about that.

"But we're leading the Teams' Championship which is good but I feel like we could both be one and two or one and three in the championship. And we're not so I think that's probably the more frustrating part than anything.

"So yeah, he's had a great start and has put up pretty good points in those first few races but yeah, we'll have to see what happens in the next few races. I'm sure he's still going to be obviously really competitive and quick.

"On my side, I want to try and obviously get some better results on the board and I guess what the fortunate thing is, is that it's not been because of pace.

"Sometimes these races they can go for you or against you, and just unfortunately the first three have not flowed the way that we would have liked. It's very different circumstances to last year, last year was kind of a bit more on pace.

"But this year, yeah, just haven't been executing them properly for all different reasons. But that's the way it goes and we've got to try and keep composure my side, and try and execute a strong São Paulo and Tokyo to just keep the pressure on."