RIYADH: The Diriyah E-Prix has become a favorite among the drivers, said Jaguar TCS Racing鈥檚 Mitch Evans, and he expects the standard of competition in Formula E to be higher than ever this year.

Twenty-two drivers from 11 teams are competing in the 10th season of the all-electric series, which will feature the sport鈥檚 Gen3 car for the second year running.

Speaking ahead of the double-header of night races in Riyadh this weekend, Evans said: 鈥淣aturally, with the second year of the same car, teams are going to find new ways to get performance out of the drivers and get more comfortable.鈥�

The New Zealander finished third in the Drivers鈥� Championship last year, and although he has career second, third, forth and fifth-place finishes under his belt, he has yet to win the ultimate prize.

鈥淐ompared to 12 months ago, it鈥檚 definitely a different story. I feel like the pack has definitely closed up,鈥� he added.

Pascal Wehrlein last week won the first race of the 2024 season, the Mexico City E-Prix. Rounds two and three take place in Diriyah, an ancient city that includes historic At-Turaif district, which is designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

In 2021, the Diriyah E-Prix became the first night time Formula E race, and its street circuit is 鈥渄efinitely a drivers鈥� favorite,鈥� Evans told Arab News.

鈥淭o try and execute a lap there is really tricky,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t requires a lot of rhythm, a lot of corners flowing to one another. It鈥檚 very much one of those tracks where there鈥檚 kind of high risk but, you know, no kind of margin for error. It鈥檚 a special event and we all enjoy coming here.鈥�

His Jaguar Racing teammate, Nick Cassidy, echoed those comments and said the 鈥渞oom for error is small.鈥�

Cassidy, who took second place in the championship last year, told Arab News he aims to go one better this year.