Evans hit with grid penalties in Shanghai

Mitch Evans will start the first race of the Shanghai E-Prix this weekend from the back of the grid after a raft of component changes.

The Jaguar TCS Racing driver crashed out of the first race of the Tokyo E-Prix last time out after contact with Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries. That was then compounded by a crash in qualifying for the second race of the weekend which forced him to sit out of that round.

Following the incidents, Evans has taken on a new inverter, Motor Generator Unit and gearbox – which was changed in Tokyo but he couldn’t serve the penalty for it after missing the second race – ahead of the first race of the Shanghai weekend.

“Following damage caused by contact from Nyck de Vries in Round 8 in Tokyo – a 26G impact – the No. 9 Jaguar I-TYPE 7 of Mitch Evans will take a new inverter, Motor Generator Unit and transmission ahead of racing in Shanghai,” Jaguar said in a statement. “This means that Mitch will be subject to a 60-place grid penalty in Round 10. To serve this in the single race, Mitch will start from the back of the grid and have a 10-second stop-and-go penalty.”

With each individual component change subject to a 20-place penalty, but the grid only consisting of 22 spots, two of those penalties will be converted into a single 10-second stop-and-go penalty during the race.

Evans took last season's championship battle to the final round, eventually finishing second to Pascal Wehrlein, but this year has been a difficult affair for the New Zealander.

After carving his way through the field to win the opening round of the season in Sao Paulo, Evans has had a best finish of 16th – at Homestead-Miami – since then, and has retired from three races, not including his non-start in the second Tokyo race. He finished the opening free practice session of the Shanghai weekend in 20th as he bedded in his new components.