Evans claims Monaco podium after last lap misery

Mitch Evans finished agonisingly shy of his first Formula E race win of the year, coming home third in a last-lap thriller in Monaco.

Evans had executed two slick moves in the later stages of the race to snatch the race lead in his Jaguar.

However, an untimely safety car and slight mismanagement of his energy meant Evans lost his stranglehold on the race on the final lap.

Antonio Felix da Costa got ahead of the Kiwi on the run to the Novelle chicane to claim the race lead, and the victory.

Evans then desperately tried to fend off Robin Frijns as his remaining energy ticked nearer to zero.

But Frijns would get a clean run out of the final corner and snatch second at the line.

Before the final lap drama, the race had unfolded into a three-car duel for the win.

Da Costa and Frijns were toing and froing at the front of the field as they each took different strategies with their attack mode.

Da Costa used his final attack mode later than Frijns and reeled the Envision Driver to move into the lead.

However, Evans also latched onto the tail of Frijns, and in two swift moves, he was up to first.

His overtake on da Costa was undoubtedly a race highlight.

The Kiwi squeezed himself around the outside of his rival at the flat-out Beau Rivage corner, leading to the sweeping left-hander of Massenet.

Now in the lead, Evans established a small margin but was crucially running with less energy available than both da Costa and Frijns.

The race’s only safety car was then deployed in the dying stages to recover a stranded Rene Rast – who had hit the barrier while overtaking Nick Cassidy into turn one.

Evans’ lead was reduced to nil. Yet, he cunningly resisted the challenge of da Costa for several laps before ultimately letting his rival slip ahead on the final tour.

Despite the podium and moving up to third in the championship, Evans lamented on a race that left him ‘hurting’.

“It hurts,” Evans said. “But when you look back, I got myself into that position because I burned energy under attack mode.

“I think third is probably where I should have finished, but it hurts when you are leading with half a lap to go. It sucks.

“It hurts because Monaco is Monaco, everyone wants to win here.”

The second New Zealander in the field, Cassidy, ended up eighth after a strong race.