The silver bullet signing that has launched Jaguar into title contention

Jaguar Racing occupies unfamiliar territory in Formula E just now. It unpacks in Valencia for a double-header event at an off-kilter permanent circuit in the lead of the constructors’ points. Prior to this season, never has it been at the top and looking down on its electric rivals. And that position is owed to a rare commodity in the electric series: an obvious silver bullet.

Generational rules cycles that hang around for four years permit the powertrain technology to converge. The optimal set-up is found and then refined as seasons of regulatory stability tick by. Evolution, not revolution, is key but that returns small steps forward rather than giant leaps.

Yet, in the third term of the Gen2 car, Jaguar presently finds itself a full six places higher up the standings than where it ended the previous 2019-20 campaign. Flick across to the drivers’ table and the picture is similarly healthy: it’s a Big Cat 1-2 after the opening four races.

Some of that rise to prominence in the early part of 2021 has been built on those incremental gains. A call to join the grid for the 2016-17 season came at the 11th hour and left a build-up best described as ‘hasty’ as Jaguar wound up 10th and last. A climb to sixth came the season after and, while that was followed by a slip to seventh in 2018-19, team mainstay Evans chalked a first win for the manufacturer in Rome.

But it was in the 2019-20 season that Jaguar properly began to flex its muscles. It bolted out of the blocks as the only team that could consistently hold a candle to benchmark outfit DS Techeetah. Evans was on pole in Santiago and streaked into an early lead before a technical issue sapped pace and dropped him to third. The response in the immediate Mexico City round was an emphatic victory.

The Kiwi then fought back magnificently in Marrakech when a strategy blunder left him without a qualifying time. The climb from last to sixth was mesmeric and so he boarded the flight out of Morocco breathing down the neck of points leader Antonio Felix da Costa. Jaguar had finally arrived in the championship battle.

Race winner Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing celebrates on the podium

Photo by: Dan Bathie / Motorsport Images

However, as the pandemic gripped Europe and suspended the season for five months, his momentum went awry. When running eventually resumed in Germany, da Costa netted two wins in quick succession while Jaguar went off the boil. Evans’ title dreams remained a fantasy. A brace of seventh places from the six Berlin bouts was all he could muster.

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The immediate concern ahead of 2021 was that no one could offer a satisfactory reason as to where the pace had gone. Evans told Autosport there was a loss of car balance. An underlying technical malady didn’t seem out of the question and the folks at Jaguar cited the qualifying format as the cause of the decline.

They reckoned Evans was doing just enough to recover in the races and to score a handful of points to keep putting himself back in the unfavoured group one battle. That meant he had to turn up each day and qualify on a slippery surface that hadn’t been sufficiently rubbered in.

Fine in theory, but erstwhile points leader da Costa proved eminently capable of bagging big points and still qualifying well as he romped to the title. Just as team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne had done on his way to two coronations in the previous campaigns. The strides Jaguar had taken over recent campaigns gave way to a sizeable step backwards.

The anticipated results have come almost from the off. Very few thought he wouldn’t deliver, but with 10 teams capable of winning a race this season, the first triumph might not have been expected so soon

In Berlin and over the winter break, DS Techeetah continued to tweak its software. Nissan e.dams recovered the loss of ground caused by the ban of its 2018-19 twin-motor powertrain and Mercedes grew into the series as a works entry. Up against this, refining rough edges alone wouldn’t have given Jaguar its current first place. There needed to be a big change. That change was signing Sam Bird from Envision Virgin Racing.

For too long, the team had relied on Evans to do the lion share of the heavy lifting in the points. The second seat had operated with a revolving door policy. In the four previous campaigns, five different drivers (Adam Carroll, Nelson Piquet Jr, Alex Lynn, James Calado and Tom Blomqvist) have taken their turn. There wasn’t the consistency that might have helped Jaguar to diagnose and solve its issues in the German capital more quickly.

Bird - a Formula E ever-present - not only now offers the necessary experience in abundance but is almost universally ranked in the top tier of racers operating in the championship. His name is never far away from the epithet that he’s the only driver to win a race each season.

Sam Bird, Jaguar Racing, Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

In Jaguar’s defence, it wanted to be here sooner. It first held talks with the Brit back in 2016. Yet it would take another five years for the parties to join forces.

The anticipated results have come almost from the off. Bird earned the spoils in the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia, bouncing back from the previous day’s terminal tangle with Mahindra driver Lynn to extend his series record for another year. Very few thought he wouldn’t deliver, but with 10 teams capable of winning a race this season, the first triumph might not have been expected so soon.

The form carried straight over into the Rome opener last time out. Jaguar snared its first double podium on the international stage for nigh on 30 years. Back then, it was the solo Derek Warwick leading Teo Fabi and David Brabham to the rostrum in their XJR-14s for the 1991 world sportscar finale at Autopolis. This time, Bird led Evans to a 2-3 behind Vergne.

They were undeniably aided in their romp from 10th and 12th on the grid to the podium in the Saturday contest thanks to the late drama that eliminated race leader Lucas di Grassi and the crashing Mercedes duo Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries. But that goes some way to masking how proficient they were in passing through the field when many of their rivals got it wrong and crumpled front wings and punctured tyres.

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Bird became the unlucky recipient of a race-ending whack from de Vries in the second bout on the final lap in a battle for what was 10th place. He came away a little bruised, having smacked his hand on the steering wheel.

Even still, he heads to an inaugural Spanish race this weekend with a nine-point cushion over the next non-Jaguar driver – Robin Frijns for Virgin. That perfectly validates his switch in what is the biggest Formula E driver market move to date.

Evans, meanwhile, clocked a sixth place in race two in Rome that flew under the radar. It was akin to an astute 1-0 win for a champion-elect Premier League team. Not fit for first billing on Match of the Day, but no less deft as a result.

Sam Bird, Jaguar Racing, Jaguar I-Type 5, Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, Jaguar I-Type 5

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

The 2012 GP3 champion has matured into a first-rate Formula E driver. Now doing business alongside Bird, Jaguar can lay claim to arguably the strongest driver pairing on the grid. Having a line-up much more evenly matched to share the load in the points battle was a long-hanging fruit but one that took its time to be picked.

Jaguar snared its first double podium on the international stage for nigh on 30 years. Back then, it was the solo Derek Warwick leading Teo Fabi and David Brabham to the rostrum in their XJR-14s for the 1991 world sportscar finale at Autopolis. This time, Bird led Evans to a 2-3 behind Vergne

Now in place, the leaping logo has a brighter future, with two class drivers leading its ongoing participation. While a public announcement will wait until a broader plan for its future in motorsport is outlined, Jaguar Racing team director James Barclay confirmed to Autosport that the manufacturer met the 31 March date to register for the Gen3 rules.

That means Jaguar will remain until the close of the 2025-26 season at the least. It also means Jaguar attended the 6 April meeting of the Technical Working Group to access FIA data for the 470bhp and 120kg lighter cars from chassis constructor Spark Racing Technology, battery provider Williams Advanced Engineering and tyre tender winner Hankook.

Unlike the rushed preparation for its debut, which left Jaguar at the foot of the constructors’ championship, this prompt signature will give it the lead-time needed to hit the ground running for Gen3. And, thanks to Bird’s arrival, Jaguar might well turn up for the advent of the new era with its trophy cabinet dusted off and replenished.

Sam Bird, Jaguar Racing, Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, on the podium

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images