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When we look back at the 2024/25 Formula E season so far, it might well be remembered as the best of NEOM McLaren’s three seasons in the series.

Whether that’s the case remains to be seen. Just over two-thirds of the way through, it’s been a success so far, but with upcoming races in Jakarta, Berlin, and the season finale at home in London, there’s still a lot of the year left to run, and plenty that Ian James wants to see the team deliver in order to settle that debate.

Big moments, but the biggest could follow

“I think the high point of the season is yet to come,” says Ian James, Team Principal of NEOM McLaren Formula E Team and Managing Director of NEOM McLaren Electric Racing. “This season, we’re yet to win a race. We've been close on many occasions, and until we do that, I don't think I'd be ready to say that we've had, or experienced, our high point.”

While the ultimate high point is still to be determined, there have been several memorable moments. The team started the season with a podium finish in the first race in São Paulo, delivered by rookie Taylor Barnard. Two races later in Jeddah - title partner NEOM's home race - Taylor was on the podium again, and a day later he became Formula E's youngest polesitter, going on to finish second for a remarkable return of three podium finishes in the first four races of the season.

“It feels so long ago now already,” Ian says. “It gave us the confidence to know that we had all the ingredients that we needed this season to take a big step forward and to gain that confidence - at one of the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team’s home races - is pretty special.”

The rookie revelation

Taylor added another Pole on the streets of Monaco, and two more podiums in Tokyo and Shanghai. While it's looked like a case of a rookie outperforming expectations in their first full season - after a brief cameo last year in place of the injured Sam Bird - Ian insists the team haven't been shocked by the youngster's rapid rise.

“I don't think it's come as a surprise to us, certainly in terms of his performance,” he says. “He earned that race seat thanks to his overall approach with the team, the work that he put in as a Reserve and Development Driver, and of course, his opportunity to prove himself on the Formula E grid a couple of times last season as well.

“We were super confident that, that performance was going to continue."

On track, Taylor has looked like anything but a rookie. Off-track, that has been mirrored - and that, Ian says, has been the biggest surprise.

 

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“It's been great to see his maturity, which belies his young age, and his approach,” he explains. “Regardless of whether things go well or whether things don't go so well, he has a maturity which you wouldn't expect from somebody in their rookie season.”

On the other side of the garage is second-year NEOM McLaren driver Sam Bird, one of Formula E’s most experienced drivers. That experience has been invaluable as the team has continued to grow and improve.

“Sam's played a pivotal role in unlocking performance for the team, and we noticed this the day he joined – the approach that he had, working together with the team, building confidence in the package that we had, but also highlighting areas where we can improve,” Ian says.

“The relationship, not only that he has with the team, but with Taylor as well, has really helped us to unlock performance and ultimately to score points as well. Sam's been instrumental in that respect.”

The elusive race win

The points scored by both drivers have NEOM McLaren fourth in the Teams’ standings right now, higher than we’ve been before, but as mentioned, a second win - adding to Sam’s triumph at last season’s São Paulo E-Prix - has so far been elusive.

It’s a different story to our Formula 1 team, which has won seven times this year, but as Ian points out, while both teams may wear papaya, that’s where the direct comparisons should stop.

“It's certainly not easy to win in F1 either, and I think that the work that's been done by the McLaren Formula 1 Team to put themselves in this position has been phenomenal and has been the culmination of work that's gone on in the background for many years,” he says. “So the fact that they're now reaping the rewards for that is very well deserved.

“Having said that, I think that Formula E is a different beast. The chassis and the batteries are common to each competitor, and the power units are the differentiating factor from a technical perspective. Naturally, with the convergence of the performance of those technical packages, the racing is incredibly close now, and you're never going to get in a position where you have any one dominant team or manufacturer.

“I don't think it's ever been as competitive as it is now, which makes it incredibly exciting for the fans and incredibly stressful for us as teams, because we need to make sure that everything's right.

“Couple that with a roster of drivers that really is world-class, and you get an environment where on any given day, every single element of your package, your operation, needs to be absolutely spot on for you to be able to prevail. And you've got 22 drivers, 11 teams pushing to do exactly that.”

Building a legacy as McLaren’s time in Formula E draws to a close

While the team continues to fight in one of the most competitive series around, it does so knowing that this will be the final season in which it competes as NEOM McLaren. The aim is to continue under a new identity - in much the same way as how McLaren assumed the Mercedes operation previously - and our strong results this season have gone a long way to making the team an even more attractive proposition for any potential new backer.

“Certainly, when you're performing well, people notice, and that's definitely helpful,” Ian says. “I think the other thing is that whatever the future holds for us, we're going into it with a good deal of momentum, and we'll be using this season as a springboard for that next chapter.

“I'm really excited about the future, about what that holds. I think the Championship itself is going from strength to strength, and the foundations that we put in place as part of the McLaren Racing family are going to stand us in good stead.”

Being part of the McLaren Racing family has enabled the team to focus solely on racing, while being able to tap into the vast expertise of the wider McLaren family and learn from their peers in the Formula 1 and IndyCar teams.

“I've enjoyed the focus that we've had on racing,” he says. “We've been there as part of McLaren Racing, which doesn't necessarily exist to sell products. It exists to go racing, just to win. And that gives a clarity of focus, which has been super useful.

“There's the old adage in motorsport that if you stop improving, if you stop going forwards, then you simply start to go backwards,” Ian adds. “At the end of the day, if you've got an opportunity to share knowledge with your peers, especially if they're involved in different series and different championships, there's always something that you can learn from that.

“So, you accelerate that learning and development process, and this is something that we've actively encouraged within the teams.”

NEOM McLaren’s exploits in Formula E and Extreme E will forever be woven into the storied history of McLaren, as the company’s first all-electric racing operation, scoring points, podiums and a win, ensuring that the team has left its mark.

“I’m immensely proud,” Ian enthuses. “If you take a look at the heritage that McLaren has, but also the potential it has in the future, to have played a role in that, I think we can all be super proud of that. We've added to that legacy.”

There’s still work to do before the final curtain call

Right now, the focus is on closing the NEOM McLaren Formula E chapter on a high note.

The season has been a success so far, but Ian is confident that it can be even better in the final five rounds.

Taylor still has one more ‘youngest’ record box to tick, as he chases his first victory, while Sam is chasing win number 13, which would move him up to second in the records books for all-time Formula E wins, one off first. It would also mean he had won at least once in nine of his 11 seasons.

“It's going to be really competitive all the way through to the end of the season, but do we have the potential? Absolutely,” Ian stresses. “That's what we're going to be aiming for.

“I'd love to see us having the youngest ever Formula E race winner coupled with the oldest ever Formula E race winner, so if we can see both Sam and Taylor up on the top step for a couple of races, that would be phenomenal.

“I think we've been building our momentum over the past couple of years. I think that it's fair to say we haven't always had the complete package to be able to take the fight to all of the competition, and this year, we do have exactly that.”