Mitch Evans’ hopes of finally landing the Formula E drivers’ crown are all but gone after a cruelly timed Full Course Yellow turned his London E-Prix upside down, leaving the Jaguar TCS Racing man third in the championship with a single race remaining.

The New Zealander heads into Sunday’s season finale at the ExCeL on 148 points, 21 adrift of new leader Pascal Wehrlein of Porsche on 169, with Andretti’s Jake Dennis sandwiched between the pair on 164. Only those three can still lift the title, but Evans now needs a near-perfect afternoon and disaster for both rivals to snatch it.

It all unravelled on Saturday. Evans lined up third on the grid but found himself bottled up behind the fiercely defending Porsche of Nico Muller in the opening laps. Jaguar responded by bringing him in early for his mandatory PITBOOST stop, and strong pace in ATTACK MODE carried his car past Muller and off in pursuit of the race leader.

Then came the sting. A Full Course Yellow on lap 21 allowed Wehrlein and several other drivers ahead to make their own PITBOOST stops while losing far less time, dumping Evans into the lower reaches of the top ten. He clawed his way back to eighth at the flag, but the damage was done. Wehrlein’s dominant victory completed a miserable afternoon for the Kiwi.

“Today things clearly didn’t go my way,” said Evans. “Nico held me up in the first part of the race so we took PITBOOST early to counter that which was the right thing in the circumstances. The FCY that followed then just compromised me completely. I’m still in it though, so the focus now is on qualifying well tomorrow then we move forward from there.”

Da Costa keeps Jaguar on top

There was consolation for the British squad. António Félix da Costa carved his way from seventh on the grid to third, seeing off Cupra Kiro’s Dan Ticktum in the closing stages after his own PITBOOST stop to bank a fifth podium of the season. The result lifts the Portuguese to fifth in the drivers’ standings in his debut campaign for Jaguar and, crucially, keeps the team five points clear of Porsche at the top of the teams’ championship.

“It is a bittersweet feeling,” said da Costa. “Unfortunately, the FCY totally scuppered Mitch’s race so we were unable to maximise our full pace and the result for the team at home. It is a tough one and I feel for him, but we just have to attack the final race in a positive frame of mind, make sure we qualify strongly and get it over the line tomorrow.”

Sunday carries extra weight for Evans, who took a record 16th Formula E victory in Berlin earlier this season. It will be his last outing for Jaguar after ten years with the Coventry brand’s Formula E operation.

Team principal Ian James refused to write him off. “I really feel for Mitch today – but he’s absolutely not out of the title fight. Tomorrow will see his last race for the team after an incredible ten years, and everyone will be doing all they can to maximise his chances for a great result as he fights for the Drivers’ Championship.”

Jaguar, meanwhile, will be chasing a second teams’ world title. On Saturday’s evidence, that fight will go all the way to the flag.