A British driver who won in every Formula E season up to 2019, took the 2015 WEC LMP2 title and spent his final years in the series with Jaguar and McLaren.
Sam Bird is a British racing driver who won 12 Formula E races and finished third in the 2017-18 championship. He also won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 title and was runner-up in the 2013 GP2 Series.
Sam Bird is a British driver whose career has spanned single-seaters, sportscars and, above all, Formula E. He became the first driver to win in each Formula E season in 2019, and he extended that run into 2020-21. His Formula E tally of 12 wins has been the foundation of his reputation.
Who is Sam Bird?
Sam Jamie Bird was born on 9 January 1987 and is a British professional racing driver. He raced in Formula E until 2025, when his final season with McLaren ended as the team left the championship.
His all-time Formula E figures run to 141 starts, with 12 victories, 27 podiums and six poles. Across eleven seasons of the championship he collected 916 points, set 12 fastest laps and led 318 laps.
Twelve Formula E wins, a title-deciding GP2 season and a career that kept finding new teams and new chapters.
How did Bird make his name in single-seaters?
Bird first made his mark in Formula BMW. In his first season he placed fourteenth overall and was runner-up in the rookie standings. He was runner-up in the 2005 series, his second season in the category, and he finished fourth at the world final, which Marco Holzer won.
In 2006 he entered the British Formula Renault series, won four races and finished fourth in the championship. That left him 111 points behind the champion, Sebastian Hohenthal.
He moved into British Formula 3 in 2007 with Carlin Motorsport, driving a Mercedes-powered Dallara. BP sponsored him that year, and he was selected for an elite driver scheme run by the Motor Sports Association, alongside five other drivers. He also took part in aerodynamic tests with the Williams Formula One team.
What did his Formula 3 Euro Series and GP2 years involve?
In 2008 he switched to Manor Motorsport's Formula 3 Euro Series operation, a year of learning that ended eleventh in the standings with 23 points. Sixteen of those points came from second places on Saturdays at Catalunya and Le Mans.
For 2009 he joined Mucke Motorsport alongside Alexander Sims, Christian Vietoris and Marco Wittmann. He earned his first pole and his first fastest laps in the series, but he failed to win a race and finished eighth in the championship.
He had already tested for ART Grand Prix at a GP2 Asia Series session in Abu Dhabi, and in 2009-10 he raced for the team. That season ended seventh in the standings, and a runner-up finish in the last round was the high point.
In 2010 he contested the GP2 Series with ART, a team he had long wanted to drive for. He was fast but often unlucky, and he took his maiden GP2 win in the first race at Monza. In 2011 he moved to iSport International alongside Marcus Ericsson, and he was second in the standings at midseason before finishing sixth.
How strong was his 2013 GP2 season?
In 2013 Bird raced for the Motopark-run Russian Time squad, collected five victories and finished runner-up in the GP2 Series. The team won the constructors' championship as well, with Bird and his teammate Tom Dillmann doing much of the scoring.
The title fight went down to the final weekend of the season. Bird had been in the mix for the championship throughout, and his form in the second half of the year kept the team at the front of the standings.
Between his last two GP2 seasons he raced in the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series. Two victories and five more podiums carried him into the Catalunya finale, where he was one of three contenders alongside Robin Frijns and Jules Bianchi. He finished third, ten points short of the championship.
On 16 November 2010 he also took part in a young drivers' test at Yas Marina for Mercedes GP, a session that came early in his single-seater career.
How did Bird become a Le Mans and WEC driver?
In 2014 he made two guest starts for Ferrari AF Corse in the World Endurance Championship. At Silverstone he finished third in the GTE Amateur class, and at Le Mans he set the quickest GTE Am time in qualifying.
During the Le Mans race he ran in the first stint and held the GTE Am lead until wet conditions on the Mulsanne Straight caused a collision with two LMP1 cars. He later became the LMP2 champion at the 2015 WEC, and in 2016 he was runner-up in the LMGTE Pro class. That 2014 Le Mans weekend was the start of his sportscar experience, which later led to a class title.
How did his Formula E career start with Virgin Racing?
Bird joined Virgin Racing for the inaugural Formula E season, partnering Jaime Alguersuari. He claimed third in the Beijing opener and then dominated the second race at Putrajaya, where he won from second on the grid. Punta del Este went badly, as he failed to qualify and started 18th before a crash ended his race, but points came back at Buenos Aires and Miami.
At London in 2015 he finished second at his home ePrix. Race winner Stephane Sarrazin received a 49-second penalty, which handed Bird the win and made him the first driver to win his home race in the series. He finished that season fifth with 103 points.
What did the 2015-16 to 2017-18 seasons bring?
In 2015-16 Bird finished fourth in the championship with 88 points. He won the Buenos Aires ePrix after holding off Sebastien Buemi, who had started from the back of the grid. Earlier that season a suspension failure had ended his Long Beach race on lap 11. Sixth-place finishes at Mexico, Long Beach and Paris followed, and he was eleventh in Berlin after contact in the race. The season ended with a double-header in London, and he finished the year fourth overall.
In 2016-17 he won two races in a row in New York City, becoming the first driver to do so there. After a collision with Jerome d'Ambrosio in Buenos Aires he returned to the podium at Mexico City, and he finished fourth in the standings. His teammate Jose Maria Lopez was five positions behind him at the end of that year.
The 2017-18 season opened in Hong Kong. He moved ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne for the lead, but a pit-lane crash on his stop brought a drive-through penalty. Even so, he was back in front to take the win, and the points lead came to him for the first time in Formula E. The second race of the weekend brought fifth place after Daniel Abt was disqualified. He finished the season third with 143 points, one behind second place.
How did he become the first driver to win in every season?
In the 2018-19 season he won the Santiago ePrix, a victory that made him the first to win in each season of the championship up to that point. He finished that campaign ninth with 85 points, with a third place at Marrakesh after taking pole.
The 2019-20 season opened with a win at the Diriyah ePrix for Envision Virgin Racing. A collision with Mitch Evans ended his race in round two, and he finished the season tenth with 63 points. During the pause for the COVID-19 pandemic, he announced he would leave Virgin to join Jaguar Racing.
What did his years at Jaguar look like?
Bird spent three seasons with Jaguar Racing, from 2020-21 to 2022-23. In 2020-21 he won the second round at Diriyah. After six retirements and one disqualification, he still finished sixth in the standings with 87 points.
The 2021-22 season was much harder. He struggled for consistency, and his best finish was fourth. A broken hand suffered at London kept him out of both Seoul rounds, and Jaguar's reserve driver Norman Nato replaced him. It was his first season without a win or a podium, and he finished 13th with 51 points.
The 2023 season brought Gen 3 regulations. Software problems hurt his preparation in Mexico City, where he qualified 21st and then retired on lap six with a driveshaft failure. He recovered to podiums at Diriyah, Sao Paulo, Berlin and Rome, and he finished eighth with 95 points.
How did his McLaren and Nissan spells unfold?
In August 2023 McLaren signed Bird to replace Rene Rast, and he partnered Jake Hughes for the season. He scored McLaren's first Formula E victory at Sao Paulo, but he was ruled out of the Monaco weekend with a hand injury after a crash in practice.
He stayed with McLaren for 2024-25, alongside Taylor Barnard. He finished 18th in the standings with 31 points, and Taylor Barnard stood in for him at Monaco in 2023-24 after his hand injury. That was his last season in the series, because McLaren left Formula E to prepare for the World Endurance Championship in 2027.
Having failed to secure a seat, Bird moved to Nissan as reserve and development driver for 2025-26.
What do his main results look like?
| Category | Years | Notable result |
|---|---|---|
| Formula BMW | Debut season and 2005 | Runner-up in 2005; fourth at the world final |
| British Formula Renault | 2006 | Four wins; fourth in the championship |
| British Formula 3 | 2007 | Carlin Motorsport; Race Elite Scheme member |
| Formula 3 Euro Series | 2008 to 2009 | Eighth in 2009 with his first pole |
| GP2 Series | 2010 to 2013 | Runner-up in 2013 with five wins |
| Formula Renault 3.5 | 2012 | Third overall, ten points from the title |
| FIA World Endurance Championship | 2014 to 2016 | LMP2 champion in 2015; LMGTE Pro runner-up in 2016 |
| Formula E | 2014 to 2025 | 12 wins, 27 podiums and six poles |
