Motor racing is often wrongly labelled as an individual sport. Sam Bird’s win in the São Paulo E-Prix on Saturday proved it to be anything but.

The victory’s significance was two-fold, as it marked Sam’s return to the top step for the first time in three years, and NEOM McLaren’s first-ever electric racing victory. Neither achievement would have been possible were it not for teamwork.

As Team Principal, Ian James sets the standard. Ian is a unique leader in that he’s worked in finance, sales, marketing, engineering and programme management roles during his varied racing career to date, defining himself as a “Jack of all trades, master of none”, and a leader who leans on the expertise of those around him. It’s these experiences during his career that allow him to see a more holistic view of the team, and in doing so, cultivate the type of mentality that shone on Saturday.

“I don't bring, necessarily, a particular expertise to the team per se, but I think I've got an understanding of each one of those different facets that needs to work in order for the team to be successful,” Ian explains.

“In one respect you get individuals influencing the team, but at the same time, the team itself can influence those individuals. From a cultural perspective, that's something that's really strong and that's down to the people that we've got on board.”

Many of the people in the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team were around during its previous incarnation as Mercedes’ Formula E operation - from Ian himself, to Chief Engineer Albert Lau and driver Jake Hughes, who was Mercedes’ Reserve and Development Driver - and having that core for NEOM McLaren to build on over the last two years has been very important.

“When we've had to bring in new people, the people that were already here have accepted them into the team, and then helped them to become part of the team and integrate,” Ian says.

And last Saturday, that’s exactly where the team found itself, with Sam Bird completing a spectacular last-lap pass on Mitch Evans to cross the line first in the São Paulo E-Prix. The team hope that this will be the first of many wins, but say that the landmark maiden first electric victory for NEOM McLaren isn’t a sign of an instant championship challenge, as Technical Director Chris Dyer explains.

“I think we went to São Paulo with some trepidation because we knew this was probably the first big test of whether we'd made any progress in the areas that we thought we had weaknesses, and in the end, the result exceeded our expectations,” he admits. “We went there just wanting to be competitive in the race, so to come out of it with a win was definitely above and beyond what we'd hoped for.

“But we are still feet on the ground,” he insists. “It was a great race and a great result, but we're still not accepting that, ‘okay, we've solved all our problems,’ there are still areas that we know we need to improve on.”

The drive to improve has been a constant process since the team’s life as Mercedes-EQ, but that transition from silver to papaya has also required a change in approach, with the team now a customer to Nissan rather than a factory operation fully in control of its own development.

“We've settled into life as NEOM McLaren and life as a customer team, and some of the decisions that were right in the past, we're now coming back and asking if they are still the right decisions for the next year or two,” Chris says. “It's a never-ending process of looking at what we're doing and trying to work out, are we doing the right things, and if not, what should we be doing?

“It's never being satisfied with where you are, never being comfortable. You've always got to be asking yourself difficult questions. You just can't say ‘this is what we did last year, or this is how we won championships in the past.”

Albert Lau adds: “For us in terms of changing our mindset of being in complete control of everything to then being a customer team, taking in a Nissan powertrain, was a large shift in how we contributed and how we drove development.

The different approach has been helped by Nissan, who have been incredibly open and accommodating as they look to lean on the expertise and experience of those within the NEOM McLaren team to improve the overall package for both McLaren and the factory team.

“They recognised that we had a lot to offer and that collaboration was actually pretty key,” Albert says. “When there was a lot of testing, they were very open about bringing us testing with them. They were very open to having us help them drive the testing programme forward, what we did with tyres, what we did with setup and just letting us have a voice. That relationship has really grown.”

A key area in which that collaboration has been able to improve is software, with Albert saying that the feedback from our engineers and drivers, pooled with the knowledge of their counterparts over at Nissan has been hugely important to not only what the updates entail, but how the data and tools are used too.

“The software is changing all the time, and the feedback from the two teams is key – there’s double the data and double the engineering that is writing the specifications to update the car,” he says. “That's where the strength has improved, I guess not only on the software side, but also the way we interpret the data.

“There's a lot of good work going on from a data science point of view in this building that allows us to post-process the data,” he adds. “But it's a continual process because it's a new generation of car. How you use it is different, how you drive it is different, the tyre is different.”

A key figure within that development journey is Sam. Of course, he's the man that drove the car to first place last week, but as someone who's been in Formula E since day one, has competed in almost every race, and won more races than all-but-two drivers, his experience in and out of the car is vital. In NEOM McLaren, he’s found himself in an environment where he can thrive, but the team has a valuable asset that can help it improve within, as well.

“I think by our own admission, I don't think we necessarily were the best in racecraft situations in Season 9,” admits Sam’s Race Engineer Stephen Lane, better known as Laney. “We didn't adapt well enough to the new Gen3 style of racing in some areas. When he joined and we started to talk to him and started to try and pick his brains it confirmed what we felt we'd got wrong.

“That's where he's been very instrumental in his fairly short time with us. What he's brought with him, with his experience, has really helped everyone here understand what tools we need to give him.”

Helping that along has been Sam and Laney's existing relationship. The pair first got to know each other in Season 4 when Laney was Alex Lynn’s Race Engineer at Envision (then-named DS Virgin). Laney then worked as Sam's Race Engineer in Seasons 5 and 6, and the pair have remained friends in the intervening years, so while new to the team, Sam arrived knowing he was entering a stable environment.

“I'd like to think that helped him, that he came in knowing someone understood him already,” Laney says. “I'd like to think he feels he's learned things quickly because we've been able to explain things to him in a way he can understand. And I think that's testament to the quality of work that people do here.

“We want his experience, his knowledge. And we've listened to him. Part of my job is trying to figure out what makes the drivers tick, and ultimately get the most out of them.”

The win in Brazil was Sam's 12th, putting him one away from Sébastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi's all-time record, and while it also allowed NEOM McLaren to join the elite club of Formula E victors, the team is keeping its feet on the ground for now – but the horizon is a very bright one.

“We exist to win, which sounds so cliche, but it's true," says Ian. "Therefore, the win that we've just had is a really significant milestone because it reaffirms the confidence that we need to have within this team that we can do it.

“We know today we don't have the strongest package. We know, however, that if we execute the preparation and then the events themselves in the way that we know we can, then we'll put ourselves in a position where we can not only win points, but podiums, race wins, and ultimately championships as well.

“This is just a first step to getting back to that position.”