Jaguar address 'biggest Formula E enemy' after Mitch Evans exit clarity

Jaguar team principal Ian James has outlined that the team's "biggest enemy" in the closing races of the Formula E season is any form of distraction, something Mitch Evans' exit from the outfit could easily have caused in significant measure.

For much of the current campaign, it has been known that this would be the 10th and final season of Evans' time with the Big Cat, with him moving on to new ventures for the Gen4 era.

It is widely expected that he will race for new Formula E outfit Opel next season, although official confirmation is still awaited. As for Jaguar, current reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne is the clear favourite to replace Evans and has already been involved in the team's Gen4 development programme.

To ensure full focus could remain on the season, Evans and Jaguar jointly announced ahead of May's Berlin E-Prix that they would part ways following the season finale in London.

That announcement has given everyone within the Kidlington-based outfit clarity regarding the future of the New Zealander and allowed Evans and Jaguar to work together towards delivering the perfect ending.

Asked if the season has become easier since Evans' exit was made official, James told RacingNews365 during an interview: "Yeah, I think Mitch is the consummate professional and, together with the team, I think we can sort of block out the external noise. 

"Internally, though, I think it's definitely been helpful to have that clarity and not have that sort of speculation, or anybody — whether it's Mitch or any of the team members — being unsure about what the future holds.

"Having that decision made and having that clarity in place means we can just get on with the job at hand and treat it on a race-by-race basis. It often sounds clichéd not to worry about the overall championship position and instead go into every race focusing on what you need to do at that particular event.

"Probably even more than that, it's about taking it session by session — breaking it down into the free practice sessions, qualifying and then the race itself."

James' clear stance on distractions removal

Evans enters this weekend's first Sanya E-Prix since 2019 as the championship leader by 19 points. Winning the drivers' title is the only box the 31-year-old has not ticked with the team, and in many ways, doing it in his final year with Jaguar would be the most Evans thing imaginable.

However, Jaguar has come close to winning the drivers' title on multiple occasions with Evans and fallen short at the final hurdle in dramatic and controversial circumstances.

That cannot happen again, with James recognising that the British outfit must not become distracted by outside noise and speculation, something he is trying to minimise.

"Again, not having any distractions in that respect is super important, and that's another thing we've spoken about as a team," added James. 

"The biggest enemy we have over the next seven races is any kind of distraction, so part of my role is to minimise that as much as I can and let everyone get on with the job at hand.

"I'm confident that we've got the right people in place who can execute in the right way, and if I can help remove those distractions, then we'll be in good shape."