Sam Bird has admitted that shifting to the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team for season 10 was “a no-brainer”, following his Jaguar TCS Racing departure on the finish of season 9.
After spending three seasons with Jaguar, Bird’s transfer to McLaren is a great one, given how helpful his huge Formula E expertise might be to the Woking-based facet. His time at Jaguar definitely didn’t go in addition to many anticipated it to when the transfer was introduced, with inconsistent performances and dangerous luck having been a constant theme.
He was additionally being constantly out-performed by Mitch Evans, who contested for the title within the three seasons he was partnered by Bird. The statistics from the final three years aren’t in Bird’s favour. Bird picked up two wins throughout his stint with Jaguar, while Evans was victorious eight instances while alongside the British driver.
In racing, some strikes work and a few don’t; Bird at Jaguar was sadly the latter. However, on his day, he stays as one of many quickest drivers on the grid who can all the time be assured to make progress throughout a race. As talked about, his information may also be invaluable to McLaren, who’re set to embark on simply their second season in Formula E.
Whilst Jake Hughes proved in season 9 that he’s extremely fast, he nonetheless doesn’t boast the form of expertise that Bird has, on condition that the 36-year-old has competed in each season of the all-electric sequence. This might work massively in Hughes’ favour, as he’ll be capable to study from Bird and enhance consequently.
Unlike at Jaguar, Bird gained’t have the strain of getting a package deal that can be capable to compete on the entrance in every occasion, as that’s merely not the place McLaren presently are. There is not any purpose why they will’t get there, although, with the assistance of Bird to develop the nonetheless very new group.
Whilst a mid-pack Formula E group, McLaren are, after all, some of the well-known names in motorsport, with it having been a dream of Bird’s to race for the historic outfit. He additionally already is aware of McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who he has performed golf with for the previous “six or seven years”.
McLaren seems like Bird’s “perfect match”, with accepting the supply from the British facet having been a “very quick” and “easy” choice.
“When I got the call, it was a no-brainer,” Bird said. “It was very, very fast, simple. I’ve all the time needed to be a McLaren driver. Becoming a part of a group with a lot heritage and status because the McLaren Racing household feels particular.
“I’ve actually been playing golf with Zak [Brown] for maybe six or seven years, and we get on very well. I trust and admire him for what he has achieved at McLaren. It all felt like a perfect match. Zak plays at courses that I could only dream of – he’s even got to play golf at Augusta. I’m hoping I’ll get an invite if I win races this year!”
Whilst Bird managed to say 4 rostrums within the 2022/23 marketing campaign, everybody within the paddock is aware of that he’s able to a lot extra. He is an 11-time Formula E race winner, highlighting his immense velocity and expertise. When he’s “in a good place”, Bird is among the finest on the grid, together with his race tempo usually being exemplary.
If McLaren can constantly get the most effective out of Bird, then there’s each likelihood that they will contest for “podiums and eventually wins”, one thing the driving force himself is concentrating on if he can get the “best out of the race team”.
“I believe that when I’m put in the right environment, which is happy, and if I’m getting the best out of the race team, then they’ll be getting podiums and eventually wins,” Bird mentioned. “I feel once I’m in a superb place, I can race extraordinarily effectively. I don’t suppose I ever go backwards in a race, I don’t suppose I ever have gone backwards in a race, so I’d say that’s most likely my energy.
“So far, it has been brilliant, and I am really happy to be here. Everybody has been great, and I am thoroughly enjoying working with the team and getting my teeth stuck into this project. There’s a lot of hard work ahead, but I am enjoying it.”
One factor which has made life simple for Bird to settle into McLaren, is that he already is aware of a few of the group. Bird’s engineer will really be Stephen Lane, who he labored with while at DS Virgin/Envision Virgin. Bird was no stranger to the highest step of the rostrum when he beforehand labored with Lane. This might assist get Bird again to the highest.
It’s unimaginable to suppose that Bird has almost gone three years with no victory in Formula E, contemplating that he gained at the least one race in each season of the game from season one to season seven. Like him, McLaren are “hungry for success”, with the large goal being to at the least attempt to declare some race wins. Podiums are anticipated on the very least.
Hopes of podiums and victories apart, Bird and McLaren are invested in making an attempt to get the group “much higher up the grid” and to build on from the facet’s debut marketing campaign, which the veteran driver has described as a “learning year”.
“I already know a couple of people in the team as I have worked with them before, and I know how high their work ethic and their passion towards what they do is,” defined Bird. “For instance, my engineer might be Stephen Lane, and we’ve gained races collectively earlier than.
“This group is hungry for achievement, they usually’ve had success earlier than, from once they had been often called the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team. I’d say final 12 months was extra of a studying 12 months, and I feel we’ve barely larger expectations this 12 months.
“We are aiming for multiple podiums, we are aiming to try and win races, and we are definitely aiming to get NEOM McLaren much higher up the grid.”
