Why Barclay deems Jaguar's FE season a success despite mid-season dip

Heading into the London Formula E season finale last year, Jaguar TCS Racing had two drivers in with a shout of the Drivers’ title, and the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ crowns were in sight, too.

This season, the story’s rather different. None of the three championships are a prospect, and a barren run in the middle of the season left many wondering what had happened to Formula E’s team and manufacturer to beat.

But has it been that bad? While many opted for evolutions of their GEN3 cars for the new-for-this-season GEN3 Evo ruleset, Jaguar entered the season with an all new car, and that took time to dial in.

“I think if you look at it based on the results we've had, we've had a strong year,” Jaguar TCS Racing team principal James Barclay tells RACER. “I think it's fair to say Nissan came out the blocks very early, particularly Oli Rowland came out the blocks very early. And Porsche had a really strong car this year. We brought an all new car in the Jaguar I-Type 7, all new manufacturer perimeter parts, and sometimes that does take a little bit to get fully on top of. 

“We've had some reliability issues we’ve had to work through, and I think the summary is, as soon as we have clean weekends from a reliability point of view, we can really focus on performance. That's taken a bit of maturity, getting the car to get more of a maturity level, and now you really see those results coming.”

Mitch Evans won the opening race of the season, despite mechanical issues in qualifying putting him to the back of the grid, after capitalizing on safety cars and Attack Mode strategy to move forward. But the turning point, in terms of sustained results, was the Monaco E-Prix, where Nick Cassidy finished on the podium in the second race of the weekend. 

Since then, no team has scored as many points, and Jaguar has the highest win count of any manufacturer – bolstered further by Sebastien Buemi’s win for customer outfit Envision Racing in that second Monaco race.

“If you look at the measure of wins, we have more wins than Porsche had, so I think it's been another strong year, but accumulating points at all races is what you need to do to win in Formula E,” Barclay says. “And if I look at our year, some of it has been in our control. Probably coming into the year with a bit of a deficit, particularly on one lap performance, but we were good on race, and we showed that in Sao Paulo. So I think that's not necessarily been the issue.”

Unlocking that one lap pace has enabled the team to be in a better position to fully realize its race day potential – something seen in Shanghai and Berlin, where both Nick Cassidy and Evans were able to win from pole in changeable conditions. Nevertheless, problems outside the team’s control have also been a hindrance.

“The one lap pace has been something we've been working towards,” says Barclay. “So that's the first point, but you then also look at the things outside of our control, and we have had that this year. It's not an excuse; the reality is Mitch got taken out of the race in Tokyo by [Nyck] de Vries, Nick got taken out of the race in Shanghai, and those are two scenarios where we could’ve been fighting for the podium.

“You then look at where we've had failures with common parts. Mitch had Jeddah and Nick had Monaco, and in those scenarios, we would be fighting for maybe the top four, maybe even podium positions. 

“If you add those points together, maybe out of those four races, five races, there's three, four podiums, and all of a sudden we're fighting for a championship.”

For Barclay (pictured), results like Berlin prove that the team is doing all the right things, even if things are falling into place too late to impact the championship. Alastair Staley/Getty Images

Those outside issues are part of motorsport, but unpredictability on track is something that’s even more prevalent in Formula E. WIth that in mind, Barclay stresses that the team’s results card alone doesn’t tell the full story.

“You have to look at it in the context of the detail, and that's really important, as the devil is in the detail,” he says. “When it comes to Formula E, it is so close, it is so tight, the racing is very hard at times, and sometimes you're a victim to that. And that doesn't mean you're a bad team or you've had a bad season, it's just hard on the team sometimes.

“But the biggest thing for me has always been about being resilient. If you let that get to you, then ultimately, you won't be able to fill your potential.

“It's not over until the last race in London. We're testament to that. All of a sudden, we're in a position where we can maybe fight for the top three in the Teams’ championship, which will feel like the more meaningful, more relevant position of where we deserve to be based on performance.”

Last weekend in Berlin the factory Jaguar team swept both race victories, with Evans ending a 12-race scoreless run to win on Saturday, while Cassidy added another in on Sunday. No other team has swept a double-header all season – you have to go back to Antonio Felix da Costa's two wins in Portland last season to find the last time that happened.

The team has now won three of the last four races and had double points finishes in all but one of those races, too.

“It was a really special weekend,” says Barclay. “Any double header with the two wins is really, really a great performance, a great result. Three wins in the last four as well, four wins this season – five including Envision for the powertrain – so I think it shows that we've got a real momentum building now, which is good. 

“The team worked really hard to come here, and we know Berlin throws up some surprises. The wet weather, a lot of people weren't expecting such a wet race and cooler temperatures, and then a very different, different race on Sunday.”

While there is momentum, Jaguar will look different next year. Nick Cassidy is expected to leave for one of the Stellantis-backed teams, while Barclay won’t be at the helm next season either, with him moving to McLaren’s new Hypercar operation in the World Endurance Championship. Current NEOM McLaren team principal Ian James widely expected to take his place. 

Jaguar won’t be drawn on that speculation, but has confirmed that Barclay’s replacement has been hired, with a statement provided to RACER saying, “JLR Motorsport have appointed a new Managing Director JLR Motorsport and Team Principal of Jaguar TCS Racing. Their name and effective start date will be the subject of a future announcement.”

But with next season carrying on the same homologation as this year, Jaguar finds itself back in familiar territory as a team and manufacturer to beat. Barclay, though, doesn’t want to assume Jaguar will be automatically back at the sharp end based on its current form.

“Next year, I think everyone will move forward,” he says. “There's always a moving target, but I think we have demonstrated with our number of wins this year that if we had the consistency because of things also going our way, then actually, there's no reason why I don't think we can be in a really strong position to compete for a championship.

“I think that's what's motivating finishing the year. We’re still showing that we are building momentum and going to London, we have a really good opportunity, and we're going to enjoy that process.

“We've got lots of positives to take away [from the end of the season], and we'll do our work over the short off-season, but I think we can be in a really good position next year.

“Nissan and Porsche made two very strong packages this year, but I think in some race tracks and some conditions, we've arguably had the measure of those. What we need to do is ensure we can do that consistently across the calendar, and if we can get to that point, then I think we can stand a really good chance.”