Sam Bird eyes more Diriyah glory with NEOM McLaren Formula E Team

RIYADH: Few Formula E drivers will be looking forward to the Diriyah E-Prix double-header on Jan. 26 and 27 as much as Sam Bird.

The new NEOM McLaren Formula E Team driver has record at the Riyadh circuit that not many rivals can match on any track – two wins and podium in his illustrious career.

Bird, 36, is a veteran of all nine seasons of the electric car series and has quickly settled in at his new team ahead of the 10th campaign starting on Jan. 13 in Mexico.

He told Arab News: “Everything is going very, very well. I’m very impressed with the work ethic from everybody. That’s from comms team, to data engineers to engineers, great team boss, everybody is performing at a high level. And there’s no reason why this team can’t deliver straight out the box in Mexico.

“Obviously, I’m still learning about the car, about how the team operates and works. But it’s a great team. And I feel very much at home already.”

Since the launch of the first Formula E season in 2014, Bird has won 10 races and finished third in 2017-18 with DS Virgin Racing. From 2020 he raced for Jaguar until his move to NEOM McLaren in August.

He noted that the sport had come a long way since the early days.

Bird said: “In 2014, everybody had the same car. We had two cars for the race. At one point during season one, we didn’t know whether we would finish the championship. We thought the championship might be finished before it even started.

“But it’s just grown. Manufacturers got involved, they saw the unique opportunities that Formula E could give them in terms of marketing, in terms of software development, that would then go onto the production line.

“It’s worked so well, we’ve now got better teams, better drivers, more manufacturers. We’re