Barclay looks back on a mission accomplished with Jaguar, and ahead to his next one with McLaren

For all 127 of its Formula E races, Jaguar TCS Racing has had two constants: Mitch Evans and James Barclay (pictured left to right, above). Now, however, it enters uncharted territory for the first time, with the man at the helm of the team moving on to take charge of the forthcoming McLaren Hypercar project in the World Endurance Championship.

Barclay's been more than just the man running the show. He helped create the team, and guided it to 20 wins and the 2023-24 teams' title – the first for a Jaguar factory team since the 1991 World Sports Car Championship. But from next season, he’ll be on the outside looking in.

“It is a strange feeling, I'm not going to lie,” Barclay tells RACER. “When you are part of building something from scratch, it's not a normal job, it's absolutely a way of life and a commitment, and I've loved doing it.”

Jaguar has an illustrious history in motorsport, so slapping its name on an existing team and taking the credit wasn’t ever going to be enough. The project had to be done properly, and successfully. That meant a lot of pressure on Barclay from day one – and he had to convince Jaguar it was the right thing to do in the first place.

“I wanted to be given the responsibility,” he says. “To be honest, when I was asked to come in and do this – bring Jaguar [Racing] back – there was no guarantee we would come back. So having gone through that step and found the business case and got the team, and found the way in which to get the team up and up and running, and Jaguar back into racing, I was honored to be given that responsibility.

“I just wanted to do a really good job, because I felt this was really important for Jaguar. I talked about taking Jaguar from black and white photographs to color photographs, to world championships and writing the next chapter.”

Celebrating a championship was all the sweeter for Barclay by having built the Jaguar team up from scratch. Sam Bagnall/Getty Images

Many manufacturers that have come into Formula E have done so by partnering with another team. Audi went with Abt, Renault initially went with DAMS (before morphing into Nissan and taking its program in-house), BMW partnered with Andretti, and Stellantis has had a number of partner teams over the years with its DS brand. Jaguar didn’t do that, building the team from nothing, and that’s something that has made the whole experience all the more rewarding for Barclay.

“We didn't take staff from anywhere else – we chose not to,” he says. “And also, we couldn't attract people necessarily, because were we going to be any good? We couldn't even get the best driving talent. We couldn’t take the proven winners, so we started with drivers we felt had talent and ability to help us. That's been part of that journey as well.

“So when you build every stone in the foundation, I think it's definitely more meaningful. That's the challenge I wanted, to do it that way, because you really understand how the team works. To truly be successful, we had to really run this operation and start it up from scratch the way we wanted to.

“And I think the proof of that is that we've been arguably the most consistent team in Formula E, fighting for championships for at least the last five years. We fought Mercedes for titles, we fought Porsche for titles; we have really always been at the forefront.”

Jaguar stands as one of Formula E's most successful and consistent performers at a time when the road car business is undergoing a huge transformation. Sales and production are down while the company readies itself for its next phase – and sister brand Land Rover has restructured, too, with its products now splintering off to be sold under individual brands. Barclay says the Formula E team stands as an important example and reminder of the group's potential.

“I think that's exactly why we exist, because we are a proof point of what JLR is capable of,” he says. “We have an amazing company, amazing employees, colleagues, we have a board of management that absolutely is doing an amazing job.

“We are re-imagining Jaguar – it's a pivotal time for Jaguar. So we're a constant, but the board has given us full commitment, allowed us to have the right resources and govern and run the program in a way which I've been able to agree with them and they’ve fully supported us.

“It's just a proof point of what JLR is capable of, what future Jaguar is capable of. When people look at Jaguar, they think of Jaguar racing again now, but they also think of a very professional organization that has been a constant at the top of one of the most competitive world championships in the world.”

As well as the aforementioned 20 race victories and the 2023-24 teams’ title, the factory Jaguar team delivered 31 additional podiums. It also won the first manufacturers’ title and the brand got a teams’ title the season before with customer outfit Envision Racing. With so many highlights over the last nine seasons, singling one moment out is a difficult task for Barclay.

“There’s quite a few, really,” he says, looking back. “The first race, going to Hong Kong, getting the team [together] in such a short time span. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but that was a moment.

“The first win with Mitch was incredible. It was a great race against Andre [Lotterer with DS Techeetah] on an amazing track in Rome, a real gladiator track. We loved it, that was very special.

“Then the first double podium with Mitch and Sam [Bird] in Buenos Aires, our first 1-2 in Berlin, the Monaco 1-2 is right up there with our first win because it was the first ever Formula E 1-2 Monaco.”

It’s not just the obvious things like landmark wins, but wins against the odds, too, like Nick Cassidy coming from the back to win in Berlin last year – something he’s done on multiple occasions in the energy-sensitive GEN3 era.

“Nick coming from the back in Berlin last year, doing that again this year – those are incredible races, with phenomenal driving from him, but amazing strategy from the team. There's so many along the way, but those are just some of the highlights from where I’m standing.”

Cassidy finished the year on an upswing, winning the last three races for Jaguar. Joe Portlock/Getty Images

Cassidy, who won the final three races of the season, is also on his way out of Jaguar. Barclay brought him into the factory Jaguar line-up after he won four races and finished second in the standings in 2022-23, and he was quick to point out just how influential the outgoing team principal has been.

“I'm just thankful that he could offer me the opportunity to drive for the team, and that's put me in a position in the last two years where I can show what I can do,” he says. “I've got to be very thankful for that.

“Bigger than that, though, is that he's been the massive pillar for this team for 11 seasons, so the role that he's played to have the Jaguar brand in this championship for such a long time is huge, he will be absolutely missed. He'll be absolutely very successful in the future with his new role, and a lot of what he's implemented will continue on the team.”

Barclay might be moving onto his next challenge, but the work he’s done and the pieces have been put in place means that the team is already set for the future, and won’t flounder with such a big change to its organization.

“When I made the decision to go, I had a very clear set of things I wanted to do, and that was because I really wanted to spend my remaining time here making sure, even though we had GEN4 locked down – which is the first key pillar – that the other key pillars were going to be in place for success in the future. And those are in place.

“I think we showed it this year. We won five of the last six races – we have a very competitive group and a competitive car – so next year we will be in good shape. And then for GEN4 we were one of, if not the first manufacturer to commit to the generation. We've been developing that concept in that car already for some time now, so I feel really positive.

“I would never have left this team unless I had all that in place, because it means too much to me. You don't build something to see it fall down.

“I can step away really proud of what we've achieved as a group and what I've achieved leading them, and I've worked really hard to set the foundation to the future here, both for GEN4 and for next season. I think the team is in a great place for next season and beyond.”

Evans, who’s been with Jaguar for every one of its Formula E races and will remain next year, is also unfazed by the changing tides at the team, and is confident that, if the team can start well – unlike this season – it can maintain its level as one of Formula E’s major players.

“Obviously those positions are key changes, but I think those replacements, obviously, once they’re announced, I think will be very strong,” he says. “There shouldn't be any concern from that side. From a performance point of view, we shouldn't try and keep up, but make sure we're in the finishing point when we start the season, and we've got this kind of pace throughout the whole season that we've seen the last two races.

“So some big changes, but I think ultimately we should be some of the great players.”

The new McLaren WEC Hypercar program will give Barclay another chance to build a world championship contender from scratch. Peter May photo

Barclay’s next step will be running McLaren’s Hypercar project, which will debut in the FIA WEC in 2027. It’ll be a similar project to the Jaguar Formula E one, in that he’ll be taking an iconic nameplate onto the world stage, and building up from relatively little to do it. Given his experience doing that with Jaguar in Formula E, and the vastly competitive space sports car racing finds itself in at the moment, it’s an opportunity Barclay is relishing.

“It was not going to be a 'like' decision to leave this team,” he says. “It had to be for something that is equally as meaningful, and taking McLaren back to endurance racing, back to Le Mans to outright win and part of a triple crown goal that McLaren has is an amazing opportunity. It's an honor to do that.

“It's the same as I've done here. It's not just going into the existing team, it's building a team up from scratch, which is what I think I have a strength in. But I'm just one person, and it's going to be hiring great team members to help me do that, real experts in their field.

“I'm looking forward to building that up, and it's going to be incredibly competitive. The challenge of 10 manufacturers in Hypercar is what really appeals to me in a golden age of sports car racing.”

While Barclay will be wearing papaya from next season, he’ll be keeping a keen eye on his old team going from its leader to its biggest fan.

“I'm going to really enjoy watching the team from afar,” he says. “It's going to hurt at times not being here in the garage, but I'll be cheering when the team wins races more than anybody.”