Bird enjoying Formula E sabbatical but still wants back in a car

Sam Bird is eyeing a return to the Formula E grid for GEN4 next season having been left without a race drive this season.

Bird is one of Formula E’s most experienced and successful drivers – with the fifth most starts, equal fourth most wins and fifth most podiums (with Antonio Felix da Costa and Nick Cassidy), and the most fastest laps (equal with Lucas di Grassi) – but he was left on the sidelines this year following the departure of McLaren from the series.

Instead he’s been dovetailing a role as Nissan’s test and reserve driver with a place on Formula E’s broadcast team (pictured above with fellow presenter Catie Munnings). He’s not racing – and adamant he’s not yet retired – but Bird believes his experience from this year, as well as from 11 seasons of Formula E racing, will make him an ideal candidate for next season.

“I'd be stupid not to, I still feel like there's speed in me,” Bird told RACER of his ambitions for a comeback. “This isn't a forever thing, being a reserve driver. I still feel like I can add to a team but right now, my job is with Nissan, and I'm enjoying it.

“They're a great team. Working with Oli (Rowland) and Norman (Nato) is fun, interesting. I'm learning, even though I'm 39, as a racing driver I've still got room to learn and grow and improve.

“And then with the TV stuff, it's a great opportunity for me to understand more about that world and improve my skill set, so that when I do fully retire – God knows how long that will be, but at some point – I can seamlessly slot into that kind of role.”

With his work for Nissan, Bird has already had a taste of the upcoming GEN4 car and believes that it can help broaden Formula E’s appeal. As well, furthering his comeback credentials, he feels it will suit him better than the current GEN3 Evo machines.

“It's impressive, I like the speed,” he said. “It actually suits my driving style better to have aero and speed. So that's quite cool. It's a big, important step for Formula E.

“I think that this generation of car, as good as it's been, we haven't seen Formula E continue on its trajectory in terms of increasing its global exposure. GEN4's got the potential to do that.

“When motorsport fans see the GEN4 car up close and live, they will like the look of it. First and foremost, it's a good-looking car. Secondly, it goes. This thing is fast, so I think that we're going to see more purists go, ‘You know what? Formula E is something definitely to watch.’

“You stand on a corner apex with one coming past you, and you will be absolutely gobsmacked. After my testing finished in Almeria a couple of weeks ago, I stood on the pit wall and watched Andre Lotterer come past in the Stellantis, and this thing shifts, it really does.”

But while the talk and the expectation is around Bird putting his gap year to good use and getting back onto the Formula E grid, it’s not his only ambition.

After leaving GP2, alongside a test driver role for the Mercedes Formula 1 team and his initial years in Formula E, Bird was a regular in endurance racing, mostly in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Ferrari's factory GTE team run by AF Corse. He hasn't made a sports car start since the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans, when he raced a Ferrari 488 GTE for Riley Motorsports, but that is something else he's looking to change.

“I definitely want to get back into endurance racing,” he said. “So if anybody's reading this, for goodness sake, put me back in a GT or some sort!”