Jaguar Racing and Sam Bird on top ahead of Valencia E-Prix

The British driver currently sits top of the Driver standings ahead of his teammate Mitch Evans, as Jaguar forms a strong one-two at the top. With two races down in the season and a third taking place on the weekend, here is what you need to know about Bird and Jaguar.

Bird hoping for his first World Championship

Sam Bird is one of the seven British drivers within Formula E and, for the first time in his career, he is on top of the sport. The 34-year-old is in his seventh year and is looking to make the big step to claim his first-ever World Championship. 

Bird joined in the inaugural Formula E season in 2014 and drove for Virgin Racing for the last six years, before switching to Jaguar before Season 7. During his six-year tenure, he won nine races and stood on the podium 19 times, achieving a career-best third in the 2017-18 season. However, the Championship season is still yet to come for the Brit despite his success in every season he’s driven in, in Formula E.

In his rookie season, the two wins and three podiums were only enough to secure a fifth-place but considering that it was his first season, there will be no complaints whatsoever from the London-born driver. This was then bettered by two consecutive fourth-place finishes, before reaching the podium in Season 4. This was the best season to date for Bird but hopefully, things will change this year.

So far this season all has gone to plan for Bird and Jaguar. A race win in Saudi Arabia in Round Two, followed by a second place in Rome earlier this month, conveys the goals for this season. However, despite the two strong finishes, the Jaguar driver has DNF’d in the other two rounds this season and will need to score points consistently to control his lead at the top.

Bird and Jaguar will both be hoping for a strong weekend ahead in Valencia.

Jaguar on top for the first time

Britain is represented by two teams in Formula E. One being Jaguar Racing and the other being Envision Virgin racing. Jaguar is currently at the top of the Team standings this season, with 82 points, 43 from Bird and 39 from Evans, and one win from four races.

The British team debuted in the sport in the 2016/17 season, also known as Season 3, but have never been anywhere near the top, unlike their start to this season. Scoring 27 points in their first season and finishing last was not what they would have hoped for, however, since then it’s been nothing but positive. A sixth place was followed by consecutive seven-place seasons, scoring a high of 119 points. 37 more than their current points tally and it’s all down to its driver pairing.

Mitch Evans has been with the team since it made its debut five years ago and with the addition of Bird, knowing his success in the sport, the goal was put in place to achieve a World Championship this season. So far, it’s going to plan.

Since joining the team, the New Zealander has two wins and eight podiums to his name, with a fifth-place finish in Season 5 being a career highlight. So far this season though he’s looked as strong as his British counterpart and will push to fight for the lead in the Drivers standings. Two third-place finishes, one with the fastest lap, and an eighth-place finish leaves Evans in good stead and only four points behind Bird.

Ahead of the race weekend in Valencia, Evans will undoubtedly hope to leap his teammate and leave Jaguar in a position to extend their lead over Mercedes.

Who do you think will be on top of the Drivers standings after the weekend? Let us know in the comments!