The Jaguar 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 Autosport.
“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.”
Source: Autosport