After a decade-long partnership, Mitch Evans will bring his time with Jaguar TCS Racing to an end, embarking on a new chapter with Opel GSE Formula E Team as the championship enters the GEN4 era.
The 32-year-old leaves the British outfit with an impressive record of 16 victories, 37 podiums, and 10 pole positions — a résumé that leaves big shoes to fill for his successor. Yet, despite his considerable success with Jaguar, one achievement remains absent: a Drivers’ Championship title.
Evans still played a crucial role in Jaguar’s second Teams’ Championship triumph, scoring 160 points to finish fourth in the Drivers’ standings. Teammate António Félix da Costa contributed a further 128 points by the end of Season 12, securing the title for the British manufacturer.
The announcement quickly became one of the biggest driver stories of the season, with Opel preparing to enter the all-electric championship ahead of the Madrid round. The German manufacturer boasts a rich motorsport heritage across rallying, touring cars, and endurance racing, and its history is one Evans has followed since childhood.
“My earliest memories were when they were in DTM, when I was still living in New Zealand and had all the dreams to become a go-kart racing driver. I used to follow DTM a lot. I used to play it on PlayStation. I think it was called something else back in the day, but there were obviously a lot of big German brands, and Opel was one of them.
“That was my first memory from a motorsport point of view, seeing Opel for the first time, and I loved those cars. They were good.”
He added: “Opel is going to be a new team, a new brand coming to Formula E, but I think we have high hopes and aspirations to hit the ground running when the season starts. I was filled with confidence, although there’s an element where you don’t really know how it’s going to go, but that comes with any decision you make.
“I felt confident and comfortable with what I saw and what I heard. For me, it was relatively new territory to go down this route with another team.”
Leaving Jaguar, however, was not a decision Evans took lightly. After a decade with the manufacturer, the Kiwi felt the time was right to seek a fresh challenge and a new environment.
He came agonisingly close to claiming the Drivers’ Championship in 2022, 2023, 2024, and most recently in 2026, when he fell just nine points short of Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein following a dramatic London finale.
With the introduction of the GEN4 regulations providing a natural reset for the championship, Evans saw an opportunity to change direction and begin the next phase of his career elsewhere.
“I decided that I would look elsewhere for GEN4. There was some good interest from a lot of top teams, and I think what made Opel stand out was that it’s a new brand coming into Formula E, which is always exciting.
“From the initial chats with Jörg [Schrott] and everyone at Opel, I felt really positive about their approach to Formula E. They had a lot of drive and shared passions for what they wanted to achieve. I had a good feeling from the outset.
“I wanted to take my time, and ultimately the decision was taken because I loved the attitude they were coming in with. I saw huge potential from a performance point of view, which will hopefully translate into reality and some great results.
“I did visit the technical partnership with Stellantis, their facilities in Satory, which really helped in terms of seeing their vision, seeing their resources, and seeing how seriously they’re going to take GEN4.”
Despite the change of colours, Evans believes his experience at Jaguar could prove invaluable as Opel begins its Formula E journey.
He continued: “In terms of wearing different colours or representing different brands, it does feel like I’m a rookie. Ideally, I want to bring what I’ve achieved at Jaguar; I’ve got good qualities on track and off track with my development.
“On paper, it’s similar: two brand-new teams coming into the championship. But when I first joined Jaguar and Formula E, they were very late to the party. It was clearly the worst team, and we were expecting that.
“It took a couple of years to get going, and I think it’ll be different now. Obviously, I’m hoping to bring the same success, if not better. I’m still chasing that World Championship from the driver’s point of view. That’s a clear target for me.”
For the first time in his Formula E career, Evans will also line up alongside a less experienced teammate. During his decade with Jaguar, he shared the garage with Adam Carroll, Nelson Piquet Jr., Alex Lynn, Sam Bird, Nick Cassidy, and António Félix da Costa.
His new teammate, Theo Pourchaire, may be a rookie on the Formula E grid, but the Frenchman arrives with considerable experience and pedigree. He has been working towards securing a full-time seat in the championship, completing a number of tests with different teams since 2022.
His most recent outings came earlier this year, when he tested the GEN3 Evo in Madrid before finishing second in the Miami Rookie Free Practice session, just 0.093 seconds behind the fastest time.
Pourchaire also boasts an impressive junior record. He was crowned FIA Formula 2 Champion in 2023 after finishing runner-up the previous season. During his debut Formula 3 campaign, the 23-year-old finished just three points behind Oscar Piastri, who has since gone on to become a McLaren Formula 1 driver.
For Evans, Pourchaire’s arrival adds another layer of intrigue to what is already a significant new chapter.
“It’s an exciting partnership because he’s a rookie on paper, but he’s going to come in with fresh energy and want to prove himself, which is rightly so.
“On my side, you’ve got the older guy, which is kind of weird to say, but I’ll help where I can. I don’t think he’s going to need much help in terms of getting up to speed, but in terms of structuring the Formula E days, especially over the race weekend, everything comes at you very fast, so I’ll try to help out there. He’ll get on top of all this really quickly.
“It’s great to see rookies, especially a driver with Theo’s level and credentials, get the chance in Formula E. As a rookie, you never know how it’s going to go, but I think we’re all pretty confident that he’ll be up to speed in no time, and we’ve expected him to be in Formula E for a long time.
“The line-up is exciting for different reasons compared to other signings where I’ve been with experienced guys or world champions. I think this is equally exciting, but for different reasons.
“It’s a brand-new team, and that’s something that I was very fortunate about over the last many years. I could really grow with the brand and the team. My intention is to be here for as long as possible. If I can build something that I built at Jaguar, that would be incredible. That’s definitely the mindset I’m going in with.
“The one thing that we missed out on over the last 10 years was the Drivers’ Championship, which is firmly in my sights. That’s probably the only thing that I would change if I could change anything.”
Evans has competed through all three generations of Formula E machinery and enjoyed success in each era. He delivered Jaguar’s first victory and podium within his opening three seasons in the championship and is one of the few drivers to have experienced every evolution of the car.
Now, he faces perhaps the most significant technical change yet as Formula E enters the GEN4 era — a generation several drivers have already described as highly complex.
He asserted: “Looking back at GEN1, it feels like an antique compared to what we have now. I’ve had very limited experience with the GEN4 car, but in terms of technology, it’s obviously a big step up. The acceleration is very impressive. I was expecting it, but once you experience it, you’re like, ‘Wow, okay, this is pretty intense.’
“In all fairness, the acceleration in GEN3, especially on the high-power four-wheel drive, was still very impressive, particularly off the starts. Zero to 100 in 1.8 seconds is quite something, and GEN4 is around 1.7 seconds, which is mental. It would definitely keep you awake when you’re driving the car.
“For me, that’s been a nice welcome. There have also been some different technical changes, such as active differentials, which we haven’t had in the past. That adds another layer of complexity to setting up the car.
“We’re in good shape, but there’s a lot of development and a lot of things that can happen between now and the first race or throughout the season. There will be a massive development race while we learn these cars. If we can keep development up, then I’m quite confident that we’ll ideally be fighting at the front.
“We’re hoping to come in and surprise a few people by being a new team. But, look, I wouldn’t be coming to Opel if I didn’t think they were capable of achieving good things from the get-go. I haven’t got any solid targets or goals, but I’ve got a good gut feeling we can be at the front.”
