Jaguar has a history in Formula racing, and unfortunately for the British manufacturer, not much of it is good.
The team is probably most known, or perhaps infamously known for their time in Formula 1, which in five seasons from 2000 to 2004 amassed just two podiums and never finished higher than seventh in the Constructors’ Championship.
Jaguar made their return 12 years later in Formula E in just the series’ third year in 2016/17 and initially struggled to get going in the all-electric category.
Fast forward to the end of this season and the team stand as champions, and one particular recruitment to the team has been labelled as a ‘masterstroke’ for their success.
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Jaguar’s hire of Craig Wilson has proven to be a ‘masterstroke’ from the team
Jaguar’s first season in Formula E proved to be a challenge, with former GP3 champion Mitch Evans and Adam Carroll scoring just 27 points between them and finishing last in the teams’ championship.
This, as per a report from The Race, was partly because, while Jaguar was the “first proper manufacturer to commit to Formula E”, they did not have a “plug-in infrastructure or sister projects it could absorb or even learn from” like other powerhouses such as Renault, Audi and later Porsche and Mercedes.
Furthermore, the team was not in a position to recruit experienced personnel from around the FE paddock or from other programmes.
However, their partnership with the Williams Advanced Engineering company – who they had worked with previously on the Jaguar C-X75 hybrid supercar – and the signing of Craig Wilson – WAE’s managing director and now CEO – was seen as a “masterstroke” for the team.
Wilson, who had been with Jaguar Sport and TWR from 1988 onwards, “was a kind of business and technical oracle who helped forge a key vision for Jaguar in Formula E”, as evidenced by their rise up the FE grid from the midfield to title contenders in 2020/21.
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Jaguar won the 2023/24 teams’ championship with Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans
Despite 10 retirements across the season, Jaguar finished the championship as runner-up to Mercedes by just four points.
The 2021/22 season was a great year for Evans, who won four races across the season but missed out on the title to Stoffel Vandoorne as Jaguar finished fourth in the teams’ championship.
They would repeat their runner-up position the following year as they were beaten by Envision by 12 points as Evans won another four races to finish third in the standings.
Last season, Jaguar were the team to beat as they brought home the teams’ championship, but they were unable to do the double as, despite Nick Cassidy and Evans’ best efforts, they finished second and third respectively, with Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein claiming the title.