8 questions with Jaguar TCS Racing team principal James Barclay

Born and bred in South Africa, James Barclay was appointed team director for Jaguar’s Formula E programme in November 2015, overseeing the British brand's return to motorsport in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. In 2021, he was made MD of JLR Motorsport and team principal of Jaguar TCS Racing, contributing to Jaguar Land Rover's vision of becoming a pure-electric brand by 2025.

Under his leadership, Jaguar TCS Racing has developed into a race-winning force, which on July 21 celebrated winning its first Formula E Teams’ World Championship title at the Season 10 finale in London. While driver Nick Cassidy narrowly missed out on the Drivers' Championship, the Gaydon-based outfit also scooped the inaugural Manufacturer's Cup.

In between the celebrations — and preparations for Season 11 — TimesLIVE Motoring had an opportunity to converse with Barclay about the team's on-track achievements, the technology transfer to JLR's road cars and whether South African race driver Sheldon van der Linde might be presented with a full-time seat in the team sometime in the future.

What does winning the team's championship mean to you and what does it mean to the team? 

You know, honestly, they're one and the same thing but I'll start with the team. When we started this programme in 2016 we wanted to write new chapters of Jaguar's success on track. All we had was old grainy photographs and stories about past success. They were old, they were in the past and they didn't reflect the now. So what we wanted to do is to start bringing Jaguar back onto the racetrack and have success and showcase what we're capable of from a technology point of view, from a team point of view and from a manufacturer point of view. I'm pleased to say in the past eight years we've seen that. We've won races, we've had podiums, we've fought for titles in the past four years. This first championship is Jaguar's first world championship win since 1991. It's a new chapter of success for this generation and it demonstrates our cutting edge technology.

Then, myself personally, I am fortunate to have a great group of people I enjoy working with. They make this team what it is. As team leader I can't be more proud of seeing eight years of people's blood, sweat, tears, ingenuity, cleverness and commitment pay off in the biggest of ways against one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world. It came down to the fight with Porsche — they're incredible competitors with great people and technology — so it's great for us to be able to demonstrate we're one step ahead.

What gave Jaguar TCS Racing the edge in Season 10?

We started this year with a strong car, the i-Type 6. It's a car which won more races, got more pole positions, more fastest laps, more podiums than any other car last year. So it's positive in the sense that that's one variable you don't have to worry about. We knew we were going to be competitive. Of course, we have to continue to develop the car. We couldn't leave it where it was but the foundation for the year was strong.

That was the first point, the second point is it's the same team. We did have a couple of changes over the winter but we knew that would be an opportunity for us to grow. We also had one key change, which was a new driver, Nick Cassidy joining the team alongside Mitch Evans. Add these things together and the core ingredients were strong.

We also started the year well. We got points straight away in Mexico, we won next time out in Saudi Arabia with Nick Cassidy — his first win for the team — and the year went on. If you look back, all bar two events this year, did we not come home with a trophy and that's a phenomenal success ratio. Points make prizes, podiums make championships, and that's what this year was about.

What were the biggest challenges you faced during Season 10 and do you have any personal highs or lows? 

The highs are incredible wins this year. Monaco is the obvious standout where we scored the second one-two in our team history and a win which rivals our maiden victory in Rome 2019. Mitch winning the race, Nick in P2, working together as beautifully as they did was a wonderful experience. The low will be losing the drivers' championship. 

We came close and both our drivers could have won it at one point. Antonio [Félix da Costa] made a mistake [in the season finale in London on July 21] but his mistake cost Nick Cassidy a World Championship. That's reality, no hard feelings, it is what it is and he was gracious to apologise to Nick, the team and Nick's family, which was wonderful to see. 

The team challenge was facing up to a strong competitor in Porsche. We couldn't put a step wrong. As soon as you did, they scored points and it was the same for them with us. So it was a proper battle and you had to have resilience, you had to dig deep, but that's what great competition is about. You want to win against the best and that is what we have done. So the pain, the struggle, the effort, was all worth it.

How does the success in Formula E benefit the Jaguar brand and the products on sale in showrooms around the world?

Competition improves the breed, I always say. We're in a race to innovate, developing new technologies to beat the best competitors on track. You can only beat them by having the best team, the best operations, the best technology. So to beat them, you find new ways of innovating, making the cars faster, more efficient. That contributes to our future road cars through body of knowledge about the technology, through breakthroughs in material science and through design application. Whether it is the hardware, the software, we pass that over to our core engineering teams and they will be able to use that to their advantage to make our future Jaguar, future JLR vehicles better.

A great example of this technical transfer is silicon carbide; a module we use in the inverter. We started using that in 2017, four years before JLR announced we will use it on all future JLR vehicles. So we were four years ahead of the curve, but we passed that benefit on to our core engineering team and it's going to be our future cars. 

This is the pinnacle of electric racing at a time of transitioning where Jaguar becomes an all-electric car company from 2025. Formula E is our Formula One and the technology garnered within will make our road cars better. We are also an incredible sport with amazing racing, amazing teams, amazing manufacturers and amazing racing drivers. By winning, we're communicating what Jaguar is capable of on the world stage and showcasing this incredible brand and what we are capable of.

How do you aim to carry this momentum through into Season 11? 

Our job now is to not be complacent, because the game always changes. It never stays the same. So the goal is to continue to drive, continue to push. There's nothing like the motivation of winning a world championship and wanting to maintain it — once you've got it you don't want to give it back. That is the drive now, to not be complacent, to keep working, to protect and maintain our World Championship position. That is a huge motivation and complacency is not going to be on our minds, I assure you.

We celebrated with thousands of our employees at our Gaydon headquarters yesterday [July 25] and I can tell you walking in front of thousands of our co-workers — who are developing our future vehicles and involved in all aspects of our company at JLR — that was motivation to come back next year and do the same again.

That's the drive, that's why we do it, that's what keeps us motivated. We have two drivers that are motivated to win their first Drivers' World Championship, we want to do that for them. The one that got away this year, we want to try to get for them. There is a lot more motivation when you want to try to maintain a championship as well.

Are there any major regulation changes set for introduction in Season 11?

We have the introduction of the new Gen 3 Evo racing car. Gen 3 Evo is the same core car [as used in Season 10], but we turn on more functionality. We now have four-wheel regeneration and rear-wheel drive but next year the car will boast all-wheel drive during qualifying, during attack mode and during launch at the start of the race. That means it will accelerate from 0-100km/h in about 1.8 seconds, making it the fastest accelerating FIA single seater in the world. We also have a new tyre which means more mechanical grip, particularly in qualifying, and particularly in the attack period of the race. The launch will be impressive. With 350kW and the car only weighing 860kg, it is going to shoot off the line quickly. So it is a bit of an evolution of the regulations rather than a revolution. The big step in the race comes in 2026 when we go to the new Gen 4 rule set.

Would you like to see Formula E return to the streets of Cape Town?

I suspected that might be a question and, yes, we'd love to be back. Amazing country, amazing city, showcases Formula E brilliantly. I like to think we'll be back in the future. For me personally, I'd love to be back, but I think as a sport, Cape Town represents a great opportunity for Formula E. I know lots of work is going on to try to make that possible again. It was a fantastic race last time and I think it will be even bigger if we come back.

Keeping things local, is there any chance of South Africa's Sheldon van der Linde getting a full-time drive with Jaguar TCS Racing sometime in the near future?

We have an incredible line-up with Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans but we have an amazing rookie driver in Sheldon. Sheldon's been our rookie for last year and this year. He is an incredible racing driver, really impressive in the car and out of it. He has a bright future. Though our driver line-up is obviously set, Sheldon remains an important part of our family in Jaguar. Whenever he steps in the car he's fast and professional, so I have no doubt his opportunity will come in the future.