Bird’s Formula E redemption in New York
From wrecker to winner, the Briton rewarded the hard graft of his Jaguar Racing crew by snaring the spoils and the Formula E points lead
While Euro 2020 fever gripped this nation over the past four weeks as England progressed to the tournament final, countless words have been written or recorded on the vital role teamwork plays in cultivating success. And after that loss on penalties to Italy, the same again will be produced on the strength that can arise in reacting to the pain of defeat. Jaguar Racing experienced that rollercoaster, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale, in just two days across the New York City E-prix double-header last weekend. Its key 2021 driver signing Sam Bird and the tireless mechanics transformed crashing into the barriers into brilliance to snare a commanding Brooklyn victory to move into the lead of the Formula E championship.
Since the ex-mercedes Formula 1 test driver signed up to race in a nascent electric single-seater series in 2014 that was doubted by many, costly mistakes from the Brit have been a collector’s item.
But one such rare error came in the opening practice session on the transformed ferry port car park in the Red Hook region. Threading the needle through the high-speed final Turn 14 left-hander of the decommissioned COVID-19 vaccination site, Bird clipped the inside wall. That put his I-type 5 machine on a collision course with the Tecpro barrier on the outside of the circuit and he shunted heavily. The tub was a write-off, nose cone crumpled and the front-right wheel assembly hanging on by the thread of a wheel tether.
Making it out of the garage in time with a new chassis dressed up for second practice was a flight of fancy, but with less than a minute to go ahead of parc ferme rules coming into effect for Saturday qualifying, the machine was lowered off its stands and back in the game. “I made a right mess of a car yesterday,” Bird admitted. “It was not salvageable, and we had to pull out the spare tub. [The team] got it ready in qualifying with six seconds to go… six seconds to go, it was on the ground. Not set-up but it got me on the grid. They have done the most incredible job. To even get me out was just amazing.”
Rich in gratitude but poor in terms of track time, Bird used his Saturday qualifying run to bank a couple of extra laps of data at the expense of pushing for a quick lap. As a result, when the Nissan e.dams of Oliver Rowland loomed large in his mirrors as he chased a flier, Bird pulled over to give space. But Rowland tagged the high inside kerb at Turn 1 and spun, the rear of the car rotating to pinch Bird up against the wall. He was fortunate to escape without damage.
The result was 20th on the grid for the opener, which was won by the sublime opportunism of BMW Andretti racer Maximilian Guenther, and Bird converted that into three points with ninth place, helped in part by retirements for Pascal Wehrlein and Alexander Sims. A fine recovery no doubt, but the humble score dropped him to 13th in the standings and into the group three qualifying shootout for the Sunday encounter.
But as is the way with Formula E – with Antonio Felix da Costa’s four progressions from the slippery group one conditions into the superpole shootout last season the exception rather than the rule – it came as a blessing in disguise. The green circuit for the top six in the championship, first to post their lap times, has a habit of sending them to the back of the grid. But that was somewhat mitigated by a sprinkling of rain after their run at a cost to those in group two. However, the track dried ever so slightly in time for Bird’s run and he topped the initial fight to book his place in superpole, which he then converted to the first position grid slot over team-mate Mitch Evans by 0.09s, with Envision Virgin Racing rookie Nick Cassidy only a further 0.001s in arrears.
Jaguar Racing team director James Barclay was a touch coy with Autosport before the race, saying: “The key thing is the championship for the team. That’s got to be the focus.” Reading between the lines, this wasn’t going to be an intrateam dogfight. So long as Bird maintained the pace out front, Evans would take on a role of rear gunner against fellow Kiwi and his good pal Cassidy.
And that’s how it initially transpired, with Evans fending off the Super GT and Super Formula champion into the tight Turn 1 left
hander to hold the order as Bird ran without a scare. Both Big Cats then dived for the 35kw attack mode boost in unison, the leader holding his place while Evans made light work repassing the accommodating Cassidy who ducked for his power gain the next lap.
The team somewhat rolled the dice next time around, however. Bird moved to take his boost a lap earlier than Evans, which left the 2012 GP3 Series champion prey to Cassidy. This came as defending champion da Costa shot past the Porsche duo of Wehrlein and Andre Lotterer plus the energy-haemorrhaging Dragon Penske Autosport machine of fifth-starting Sergio Sette Camara to create a train in the tussle for second to fourth. As stunning as it was to watch, it was clear that the ever-increasing saves and opposite lock required by Evans was indicative of ragged tyres and poor rear grip. Having lined up on the front row in spite of his Turn 6 wall tap in qualifying, he wasn’t so lucky with two laps to run.
“I almost didn’t need a steering wheel because the thing was rotating so much,” said Evans, who had retired at the halfway stage of the opener with an electrical gremlin. “I was trying with all the tools I’ve got to calm the rear. But it was too far past the point.”
As the oversteer grew increasingly worse, Evans ran off the racing line and across the unused concrete ice rink, which pulled him “like a railway line” to again glance the wall at Turn 6. The Jaguar driver had used up all of his nine lives and the rear-left suspension buckled under the force and he immediately shipped places to Cassidy and da Costa, then the Porsches and Sims. Worse was to come on the final lap as the corner of the car, “rolling over” through right-hand bends, collapsed completely and he fell to 13th at the line.
“I feel like I really let the team down,” Evans said. “A 1-2 is special for any team and to let everyone down like that with a few laps to go is an awful feeling. I’ve got nowhere to hide with that one. I have to swallow it. When you’re solely responsible for it, it’s really shit.
“I had track position and to not capitalise on that when all the other races I’ve done from the back have been clinical and almost perfect… When you get the opportunity to start like that and you make an error, it’s unacceptable in my eyes.”
The slightly perverse consequence, though, was that it created a brief blockage for Bird to deliver his 11th championship victory with 4.2s of breathing space at the flag. With that, he catapulted into the title lead with a five-point cushion over da Costa and Robin Frijns – the pair now tied in second place.
“We executed the perfect day,” Bird said. “I only missed out on fastest lap today [to Evans]. But to top group qualifying, to put it on pole, to win the race, to lead every lap is perfect.”
As with the World Cup in 2018, the New York City E-prix schedule ran perilously close to the kick-off for the Three Lions. So, with celebrations from Luke Shaw’s second-minute goal heard over the thin partition wall between the champagne-sipping guests and the press conference, Bird – who donned a borrowed England shirt for celebratory photographs – couldn’t help but squeeze in a football reference in deference to team-mate Evans’ work.
“I suppose he was my Jack Grealish and he backed me up well. I was the Harry Kane, just putting it in the back of the net.”
With Cassidy scoring a fine podium as the runner-up, he is the in-form driver courtesy of two second places and a fourth from the last three races. But in a series where 11 points splits him in fifth from Bird at the top of the pile, missing out on the podium in the first American bout could be a bitter pill. He had snared a second pole on Saturday morning to go with his one-lap heroics in Rome.
In Italy he spun with a suspected software glitch on the first tour, but last weekend he held firm for far longer. He led away cleanly until a brief full-course yellow, caused by Evans stopping on track, allowed his attack mode to expire to no enhancing effect. That consumed energy and left Cassidy “playing a game of chess with no queen”.
Jean-eric Vergne, returning to the venue where he won both of his Formula E titles, gave chase and looked set to pounce as he thumbed his fanboost popular vote advantage out of Turn 4 on lap 30 of 38. While it reeled in Cassidy, it wasn’t enough to dive for position. That would wait a further six corners.
Vergne threw his DS Techeetah machine down the inside for the left-handed hairpin of Turn 10 but ran out of steering lock and bashed wheels with Cassidy. In the delay, fourth-starting Guenther – who gained a position when Alex Lynn put his Mahindra Racing machine too deep into the first corner – seized his chance perfectly.
As the leading pair held each other up, he stopped his car short and turned on a sixpence to dive into the space for what would prove to be a 2.1s win over Vergne – “happy to be disappointed with second” – and Lucas di Grassi. With team owner Michael Andretti in attendance, Guenther delivered something of a home win for the German-anglo-american squad and did his Formula E future no harm. He’s bidding to shift the label at the top of his contract from ‘BMW’ to ‘Andretti Autosport’ to ensure he remains on the grid when the manufacturer exits the series at the end of the term.
With Vergne never making it off the line in race two with a suspected battery glitch having qualified last – his throttle died on his hot lap – the French racer slipped to sixth in the points, but he still harbours title hopes. Combined with Frijns’ haul for a fifth and an eighth-place return in New York, the Silverstone-based Envision Virgin Racing privateer squad and its customer Audi powertrain – that Bird left behind to sign for Jaguar Racing this season – head to London at the front of the teams’ title battle.
“EVANS WAS MY JACK GREALISH. I WAS THE HARRY KANE, PUTTING IT IN THE BACK OF THE NET”