Sam Bird

Sam Jamie Bird[1] (born 9 January 1987) is a British professional racing driver who currently drives for Panasonic Jaguar Racing.

Sam Bird
Bird at the 2018 Paris ePrix
Nationality British
Born (1987-01-09) 9 January 1987
Roehampton, Greater London, England
World Endurance Championship career
Debut season2014
Current teamAF Corse
Car number71
Former teamsG-Drive Racing
Starts36
Wins8
Poles12
Fastest laps4
Best finish1st in 2015
Finished last season12th (54.5 pts)
Formula E career
Debut season2014–15
Current teamPanasonic Jaguar Racing
Car number10
Former teamsEnvision Virgin Racing
Starts69
Championships0
Wins9
Poles5
Fastest laps6
Best finish3rd in 2017-18
Finished last season10th
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years2014
TeamsAF Corse, G-Drive Racing
Best finish10 (2015)
Class wins0
Previous series
20102011, 2013 2012
2009–10–2011
200809
2007, 2009
2006
2004–05
GP2 Series
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
GP2 Asia Series
Formula 3 Euro Series
British Formula 3
Formula Renault 2.0 UK
Formula BMW
Awards
2013
2006
Pirelli Trophy for Tyre Management
Autosport Club Driver/Year

Career

Formula BMW

Bird made his name in single seater racing in the Formula BMW category, coming fourteenth overall in his debut season and second in the rookie cup. He came runner up in 2005, which was only his second season in the category and also came fourth in the Formula BMW world final, the race itself was won by German Marco Holzer.

Formula Renault

For 2006, Bird entered the British Formula Renault series, where he won four races and came fourth in the championship, 111 points behind series champion Sebastian Hohenthal.

Formula Three

Bird on the Formula 3 Euro Series at the Hockenheimring (2009)

In 2007, Bird raced in the British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin Motorsport, racing in a Mercedes powered Dallara. In March 2007, Bird secured sponsorship from BP, "The brand is already prominent in the World Rally Championship" Mark Reader, BP's UK Fuels Marketing Manager, commented, "Sam's an incredible prospect and we're excited to be getting into a relationship at this stage of his career" he added.[2] Bird was elected to the Motor Sports Association Race Elite Scheme in April 2007, along with 5 other drivers in various British series and also participated in a series of aerodynamic tests with the AT&T Williams F1 Team.

Bird moved to the Manor Motorsport and the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2008 and had a testing year, finishing eleventh in the championship with 23 points – 16 of which came from second places during Saturday races at Catalunya and Le Mans and only picked up points from three other races. For 2009, he joined McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Alexander Sims, 2008 Mücke driver Christian Vietoris and 2008 Formula BMW Europe runner-up Marco Wittmann at Mücke Motorsport. He earned his first pole position and fastest laps, but failed to win a race en route to eighth in the championship.

GP2 Series

Bird missed the final round of the F3 Euroseries season to join up with the ART Grand Prix team for a GP2 Asia Series test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. He raced in the 2009–10 season for the team, where he finished seventh in the series, with a second place in the final round.

Bird contested the 2010 GP2 Series with ART, having long coveted a drive with the French team. He was fast but frequently unlucky, losing several potential results due to technical issues, engine failures and collisions for which he was not at fault. However, he managed to claim his maiden series win at the first race at Monza, as well as claiming his third fastest lap of the season.

Bird during the feature race at the Belgian round of the 2013 GP2 Series

For 2011, Bird moved to the iSport International team alongside Marcus Ericsson. His GP2 Asia campaign resulted in three retirements from four races, but after a strong start to the main series season, he was second in the Drivers' Championship after four rounds, with the same number of points as leader Romain Grosjean. After this point, however, he gradually slipped back in the standings and finished sixth overall at the end of the season.

Bird competed for the new Russian Time squad in 2013 and enjoyed a hugely successful season. The Englishman took five wins on the way to second place in the championship, having taken the championship race down to the last weekend. Bird's performances alongside teammate Tom Dillmann secured Russian Time first place in the GP2 constructors' championship.

Formula Renault 3.5

Bird while at ISR Racing in 2012

Between his last two seasons in the GP2 series, Bird competed in the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 season. He won two races and took five further podium positions to head into the final round at Catalunya in a three-way battle for the title with Robin Frijns and Jules Bianchi. He lost out on the title by just 10 points and ended up finishing third in the championship.

Formula One

On 16 November 2010 he took part in the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi driving for Mercedes GP.[3]

World Endurance Championship

Bird racing in the 2018 6 Hours of Silverstone.

In 2014 Bird made two guest appearances for the Ferrari AF Corse team. The first was at his home race in Britain for the 6 hours of Silverstone where he came 3rd in the GTE Amateur class. His second appearance was at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bird took pole position in the GTE Am class, 2nd overall of all GT cars. He ran in the first stint of the race, holding the GTE Am lead until he collided with a pair of front-running LMP1 cars, the number 3 Audi and a Toyota, in wet conditions on the Mulsanne Straight putting him out of the race in the second hour.

2014-15

Bird racing in the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix

In the 2014–15 Formula E season, Bird began driving for Richard Branson's Virgin Racing alongside Jaime Alguersuari. He claimed third place in the first race, the Beijing ePrix, before dominating the second race of the season in Putrajaya to claim victory from second on the grid. At the following race in Punta del Este, he did not manage to qualify and so started from 18th place and soon retired from the race after a collision. The 2015 Long Beach ePrix was another race to forget for Bird: after starting 11th, he suffered a suspension failure on lap 11 and retired from the race. Bird managed to avoid the massive first lap collision at the 2015 Monaco ePrix and went from his qualifying position of 12th to finish fourth. The final round of the season was the 2015 London ePrix where Bird started from fourth and went on to cross the line second at his home ePrix. Race winner Stéphane Sarrazin received a 49-second penalty and so Bird was handed the win. He finished the season with 103 points and secured 5th place in the championship after his home win.

2015-16

At the first race of the season in Beijing, Bird only managed to finish 7th. In the next race in Putrajaya, Bird took 2nd place after Renault had a mechanical failure and the two Dragon cars of Loic Duval and Jerome d'Ambrosio had suspension failure while running 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the next race at Punta del Este, Bird finished 2nd just behind Sebastien Buemi; in Buenos Aires, Bird won after fending off Buemi who started 18th and last. Further 6th places finishes were achieved in Mexico, Long Beach and Paris, before an 11th place finish in Berlin after contact in the race. At home in the double-season finale in London, Bird finish 7th in the first race, but in next the next race he retired because of throttle failure. Bird eventually finished the season 4th place with 88 points after being overtaken by Prost after Prost won the double-header in London.

2018-19

Sam's first podium finish of the season came in the 2019 Marrakesh ePrix, finishing in 3rd after taking pole position. In 2019, Bird became the first Formula E driver to win a race in every Formula E season, after winning the 2019 Santiago ePrix.

2019-20

Bird won the opening race of the season, the 2019 Diriyah ePrix, for Envision Virgin Racing.

2020-21

Sam Bird announced that he will be driving for the Panasonic Jaguar Racing team. [4]

Personal life

He was educated at Millfield School in Somerset. He successfully proposed marriage to his partner, Hollie, after winning the GTE-Pro class race at the 2017 6 Hours of Bahrain. Their wedding was held on 23 August 2018 in Lake Como, Italy. Bird is a keen football fan and an avid supporter of Manchester United F.C.[5]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2004 Formula BMW UK Carlin Motorsport 20 0 0 0 0 22 14th
2005 Formula BMW UK Fortec Motorsport 20 6 9 3 12 218 2nd
Formula BMW World Final 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 4th
2006 Formula Renault UK Fortec Motorsport 20 4 7 5 7 373 4th
2007 British Formula 3 Championship Carlin Motorsport 22 2 0 1 10 180 4th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 27th
2008 Formula 3 Euro Series Manor Motorsport 20 0 0 0 2 23 11th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th
2009 Formula 3 Euro Series Mücke Motorsport 18 0 1 2 4 40 8th
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 8th
British Formula 3 Championship Fortec Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
Macau Grand Prix ART Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 3rd
2009–10 GP2 Asia Series ART Grand Prix 8 0 0 1 1 12 7th
2010 GP2 Series ART Grand Prix 20 1 1 4 5 48 5th
2011 GP2 Asia Series iSport International 4 0 0 0 0 2 12th
GP2 Series 18 0 1 1 3 45 6th
2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series ISR Racing 17 2 1 0 7 177 3rd
Formula One Mercedes AMG Petronas Test driver
2013 GP2 Series Russian Time 22 5 2 3 6 181 2nd
2014 FIA World Endurance Championship – GT Cup AF Corse 2 0 0 0 0 1 34th
FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am 2 0 2 1 1 17 16th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am 1 0 1 0 0 N/A DNF
United SportsCar Championship - PC Starworks Motorsport 4 0 0 0 1 29 40th
2014–15 Formula E Virgin Racing 11 2 0 2 3 103 5th
2015 FIA World Endurance Championship – LMP2 G-Drive Racing 8 4 4 1 7 178 1st
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 1 0 1 0 0 N/A 3rd
2015–16 Formula E DS Virgin Racing 10 1 3 0 2 88 4th
2016 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro AF Corse 9 2 2 1 5 134 2nd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
2016–17 Formula E DS Virgin Racing 12 2 1 2 4 122 4th
2017 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro AF Corse 8 2 4 1 4 139 5th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 5th
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD Scuderia Corsa 1 0 0 0 0 15 74th
2017–18 Formula E DS Virgin Racing 12 2 0 1 6 143 3rd
2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD Scuderia Corsa 1 0 0 0 0 26 51st
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro AF Corse 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th
2018-19 Formula E Envision Virgin Racing 13 1 1 0 2 85 9th
FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro AF Corse 8 0 0 1 1 54.5 12th
2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup AF Corse 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Intercontinental GT Challenge Ferrari 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2019-20 Formula E Envision Virgin Racing 11 1 0 1 2 63 10th
FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro AF Corse 1 0 0 0 0 0 47th
2020 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro AF Corse 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
2021 Formula E Jaguar Racing

As Bird was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2008 Manor Motorsport Dallara F308/036 Mercedes HOC
1

10
HOC
2

6
MUG
1

14
MUG
2

8
PAU
1

Ret
PAU
2

11
NOR
1

14
NOR
2

8
ZAN
1

4
ZAN
2

6
NÜR
1

22
NÜR
2

19
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

19
CAT
1

2
CAT
2

18
BUG
1

2
BUG
2

11
HOC
1

16
HOC
2

Ret
11th 23
2009 Mücke Motorsport Dallara F308/042 Mercedes HOC
1

3
HOC
2

6
LAU
1

5
LAU
2

3
NOR
1

8
NOR
2

Ret
ZAN
1

8
ZAN
2

2
OSC
1

12
OSC
2

20
NÜR
1

4
NÜR
2

8
BRH
1

6
BRH
2

3
CAT
1

Ret
CAT
2

Ret
DIJ
1

6
DIJ
2

5
HOC
1
HOC
2
8th 40

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2010 ART Grand Prix CAT
FEA

9
CAT
SPR

4
MON
FEA

18
MON
SPR

10
IST
FEA

3
IST
SPR

10
VAL
FEA

3
VAL
SPR

10
SIL
FEA

4
SIL
SPR

DNS
HOC
FEA

14
HOC
SPR

5
HUN
FEA

13
HUN
SPR

Ret
SPA
FEA

Ret
SPA
SPR

12
MNZ
FEA

1
MNZ
SPR

3
YMC
FEA

3
YMC
SPR

Ret
5th 48
2011 iSport International IST
FEA

2
IST
SPR

3
CAT
FEA

3
CAT
SPR

5
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

13
VAL
FEA

5
VAL
SPR

12
SIL
FEA

5
SIL
SPR

6
NÜR
FEA

8
NÜR
SPR

7
HUN
FEA

17
HUN
SPR

5
SPA
FEA

12
SPA
SPR

5
MNZ
FEA

4
MNZ
SPR

4
6th 45
2013 Russian Time SEP
FEA

7
SEP
SPR

Ret
BHR
FEA

6
BHR
SPR

1
CAT
FEA

21†
CAT
SPR

12
MON
FEA

1
MON
SPR

24
SIL
FEA

1
SIL
SPR

5
NÜR
FEA

13
NÜR
SPR

8
HUN
FEA

10
HUN
SPR

8
SPA
FEA

1
SPA
SPR

14
MNZ
FEA

2
MNZ
SPR

4
MRN
FEA

8
MRN
SPR

1
YMC
FEA

10
YMC
SPR

4
2nd 181

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2009–10 ART Grand Prix YMC1
FEA

18
YMC1
SPR

18
YMC2
FEA

Ret
YMC2
SPR

Ret
BHR1
FEA

13
BHR1
SPR

4
BHR2
FEA

6
BHR2
SPR

2
7th 12
2011 iSport International YMC
FEA

7
YMC
SPR

Ret
IMO
FEA

Ret
IMO
SPR

Ret
12th 2

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points
2012 ISR ALC
1

9
ALC
2

2
MON
1

1
SPA
1

3
SPA
2

5
NÜR
1

8
NÜR
2

4
MSC
1

3
MSC
2

Ret
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

1
HUN
1

10
HUN
2

4
LEC
1

10
LEC
2

3
CAT
1

2
CAT
2

8
3rd 177

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2014 AF Corse LMGTE Am Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 SIL
3
SPA LMS
Ret
COA FUJ SHA BHR SÃO 16th 17
2015 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Ligier JS P2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
1
SPA
9
LMS
2
NÜR
2
COA
1
FUJ
1
SHA
2
BHR
1
1st 178
2016 AF Corse LMGTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 SIL
1
SPA
1
LMS
Ret
NÜR
2
MEX
4
COA
3
FUJ
4
SHA
5
BHR
3
2nd 134
2017 AF Corse LMGTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 SIL
5
SPA
1
LMS
4
NÜR MEX
2
COA
3
FUJ
5
SHA
6
BHR
1
5th 139
2018–19 AF Corse LMGTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 SPA
3
LMS
6
SIL
16
FUJ
10
SHA
6
SEB
6
SPA
6
LMS
Ret
12th 54.5
2019–20 AF Corse LMGTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 SIL FUJ SHA BHR COA SPA LMS
NC
BHR 47th 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2014 AF Corse Stephen Wyatt
Michele Rugolo
Ferrari 458 Italia GTC GTE
Am
22 DNF DNF
2015 G-Drive Racing Roman Rusinov
Julien Canal
Ligier JS P2-Nissan LMP2 358 10th 3rd
2016 AF Corse Andrea Bertolini
Davide Rigon
Ferrari 488 GTE GTE
Pro
143 DNF DNF
2017 AF Corse Davide Rigon
Miguel Molina
Ferrari 488 GTE GTE
Pro
339 21st 5th
2018 AF Corse Davide Rigon
Miguel Molina
Ferrari 488 GTE Evo GTE
Pro
338 24th 9th
2019 AF Corse Davide Rigon
Miguel Molina
Ferrari 488 GTE Evo GTE
Pro
140 DNF DNF
2020 AF Corse Davide Rigon
Miguel Molina
Ferrari 488 GTE Evo GTE
Pro
340 NC NC

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2014 Starworks Motorsport PC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 DAY
5
SEB
3
LGA
9
KAN WGL
5
IMS ELK VIR COA PET 40th 29
2017 Scuderia Corsa GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 DAY
16
SEB LBH COA DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA PET 74th 15
2018 Scuderia Corsa GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 DAY
5
SEB MDO DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA PET 51st 26

Complete Formula E results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Points
2014–15 Virgin Racing Spark SRT01-e SRT01-e BEI
3
PUT
1
PDE
Ret
BUE
7
MIA
8
LBH
Ret
MCO
4
BER
8
MSC
Ret
LON
6
LON
1
5th 103
2015–16 DS Virgin Racing Spark SRT01-e Virgin Racing Engineering DSV-01 BEI
7
PUT
2
PDE
Ret
BUE
1
MEX
6
LBH
6
PAR
6
BER
11
LON
7
LON
Ret
4th 88
2016–17 DS Virgin Racing Spark SRT01-e DS Virgin DSV-02 HKG
13
MRK
2
BUE
Ret
MEX
3
MCO
Ret
PAR
16
BER
7
BER
7
NYC
1
NYC
1
MTL
5
MTL
4
4th 122
2017–18 DS Virgin Racing Spark SRT01-e DS Virgin DSV-03 HKG
1
HKG
5
MRK
3
SCL
5
MEX
17
PDE
3
RME
1
PAR
3
BER
7
ZUR
2
NYC
9
NYC
10
3rd 143
2018–19 Envision Virgin Racing Spark SRT05e Audi e-tron FE05 ADR
11
MRK
3
SCL
1
MEX
9
HKG
6
SYX
Ret
RME
11
PAR
11
MCO
16†
BER
9
BRN
4
NYC
8
NYC
4
9th 85
2019–20 Envision Virgin Racing Spark SRT05e Audi e-tron FE06 DIR
1
DIR
Ret
SCL
10
MEX
Ret
MRK
10
BER
3
BER
6
BER
13
BER
11
BER
20
BER
5
10th 63
2021 Jaguar Racing Spark SRT05e Jaguar I-Type 5 DIR DIR

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

References

  1. Rowe, Callum (28 August 2013). "IN DEPTH Q&A – SAM BIRD". callumrowesgp2blog.wordpress.com. Retrieved 30 August 2013. SB: My middle name is Jamie
  2. "BP Ultimate sponsors Sam Bird in Formula 3". BP Official Website. 15 March 2007. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
  3. Straw, Edd (16 November 2010). "Ricciardo tops day one of rookie test". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  4. Laurens, Pel (14 July 2020). "Envision Virgin Racing and Sam Bird will part ways at end of Season". letstalkmotorsport.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. "Premier League and Carabao Cup final predictions: Lawro v Formula E driver Sam Bird". BBC Sport. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Sergey Zlobin
FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers
2015
With: Julien Canal & Roman Rusinov
Succeeded by
Gustavo Menezes
Nicolas Lapierre
Stephane Richelmi
Awards
Preceded by
Andrew Kirkaldy
Autosport
British Club Driver of the Year

2006
Succeeded by
Duncan Tappy
Preceded by
Esteban Gutiérrez
Pirelli Trophy for Tyre Management
Winner

2013
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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