If you needed a microcosm of Sam Bird’s difficulties in 2022 – his worst season in Formula E to date – it came during his home weekend race in London. The penultimate round of the Championship saw the Briton break his hand in the heat of battle around the ExCeL and, despite finishing the race, he was absent from the season-concluding double header in Seoul. A staple of the series since its inception in 2014, it was the first E-Prix Bird had ever missed.
While his last race was indeed in London, it was not that late summer afternoon in July. In partnership with his Jaguar team and their primary sponsor, TCS, Bird ran the London Marathon in October for the first time; an event where his preparation was hindered due to the fallout from the hand injury. Yet it allowed him to harness his energy in a different way than his usual preparation techniques for a race behind the wheel. More than that, though, he tells The Independent, was an appreciation of the extremities people go to just to compete and finish.
