Formula E star Mitch Evans says his sole focus over the coronavirus-induced season suspension has been on the season-finale in Berlin which could see the Kiwi lift a maiden championship come the chequered flag.
Evans has been sidelined from the Formula E scene since the Moroccan E-Prix back in February, a mere five races into the 2019/20 season.
The Jaguar Racing pilot had looked strong from the outset, clinching back-to-back podiums in Santiago and Mexico to sit second in the points standings, 11 adrift of provisional leader Antonio Felix da Costa.
But when the global pandemic sentenced the series into an unforeseen hiatus, Evans had his maiden championship ambitions temporarily shelved as Formula E worked with the FIA and event promoters to ensure some version of a curtailed season could be run.
Due to the sport’s push for environmental sustainability, the vast majority of Formula E races are staged around cordoned off city streets which made rescheduling an appropriate calendar a logistical nightmare.
Fortunately, a solution to the calendar predicament was eventually agreed upon with the series now set to run a string of six races across three varying track configurations of the Berlin Tempelhof Airport circuit.
The first pair of races are slated to be run on the reverse circuit layout, with the first race kicking off on August 5 – providing Evans with a date to work his mental preparation around ahead of his championship-critical battle.
“Ever since we have been in lockdown and Berlin has been confirmed I have just been focusing on Berlin the whole time,” Evans told the Jaguar RE:Charge podcast.
“I have been watching all the practice sessions and qualifying sessions from last year, and I like doing that because there can be one or two things I can pick up, say if it is in qualifying with a different preparation.
“If you remember last year we got it wrong in qualifying after being quickest in practice, so it is things I don’t want to make the same mistake again.”
Evans has been met with tumultuous fortunes at Berlin across the past three seasons the Kiwi has visited the German capital, only finishing inside the top-10 once with a best finish of sixth in 2018.
However, next month’s annual pilgrimage to Berlin will be an undeniably bizarre feeling with multiple races held back-to-back on relatively unknown circuit configurations.
But for Evans, the season-finale has put everyone in a similar boat and the Kiwi is buoyed by the thought of having a maiden championship on the line.
“With this new format of six races in nine days is going to be absolutely mental.
“That is constantly in the back in my mind and with new circuits I am looking at previous races just so I can take something away that we can learn for the next race.
“So that is going to be really fascinating and a whole new challenge for everyone, there is already a process going through my head so I know what I need to do each race.”
Interestingly, Evans also shed some brief light onto what the future of the 26-year-old has in store which could well include a surprise exit from the all-electric formula to pursue another career ambition.
“It is something that has crossed my mind occasionally because I do want to have an as long of a career as possible.
“I am 26 now so I want to be at a really high level – like Formula E level – until my late 30s. I would say that would be a really good achievement.
“A good 12-13-14 years at this level would be amazing and obviously in the next three-to-four years I need to start looking at options outside [Formula E].
“But my plan is to be racing for as long as possible and hopefully I can keep performing at a good level to keep me in the sport and then I start planning things beyond that.”
The three double-header Berlin events – two of which are mid-week – are scheduled for August 5-6, 8-9 and 12-13 and will be broadcast live free-to-air on TVNZ Duke.
