The Jaguar Racing driver had shown strong pace at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico and circulated in the leading group in the early stages of the race.
But the Kiwi began to lose ground to the cars in front, headed by Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein, who won but remains under investigation for a technical infringement.
After the race, Evans admitted that a steering issue meant he struggled for pace and balance with his car, finishing more than seven seconds behind Maximilian Guenther in front.
“I started off okay. I actually was really good on the energy compared to the other Jaguars [powertrain users], but with probably a good 25 laps to go, I started to have a few balance problems,” Evans told Motorsport.com.
“I’ve never experienced it before, but the steering weight was super heavy, and I was locking up at some of the corners, and I was just struggling to turn the wheel. It’s the most bizarre feeling.
“We’ll check the rack, but it’s probably something on the set-up we didn’t change.
“It’s frustrating, and I’m annoyed. P5 is fine; it could have been worse, could have been a bit better, but there was not much passing in the race, so probably a P4 was the best I could have done today.”
Team-mate and fellow Kiwi Nick Cassidy finished third on his Jaguar debut, having moved up one place from his starting position at the expense of Guenther.
Like Evans, though, both Jaguar drivers were demoted one position on the starting grid for a red flag infraction during practice, with Cassidy believing the penalty to have had a significant outcome on his ability to fight for the win.
“I feel this was probably the most complete day I’ve ever put together in Formula E, and it’s a really good start with Jaguar,” said Cassidy.
“I honestly didn’t really feel connected with the package this weekend. I struggled a lot, and so to have this result is a really nice start.”
He added: “I think the penalty that dropped us back one spot probably really hurt the outcome of being able to challenge for today’s win, but I can’t complain. It’s a nice start for us as a team.”
