By Mark Preston
Formula E has a way of pulling you back in. Not because the racing is unpredictable or because the technology is evolving at breakneck speed—though both of those are true—but because the championship has become one of the clearest mirrors we have for how organisations adapt, align, and win in complex environments.
My conversation with PJ Stephens touched on many of these themes. We began with the obvious question: why return now, and why with Lola? But as the discussion unfolded, we found ourselves exploring leadership, communication, risk, and the peculiar physics of high‑performance teams.
What follows is a more reflective piece to accompany that conversation.
Returning to Formula E: More Than a Reunion
Lola’s rebirth comes at a moment of profound transition in motorsport. The sport is electrifying—literally and philosophically. When Till Bechtolsheimer revived the company, we aligned around three pillars that signal where racing, and mobility more broadly, are heading: electrification, hydrogen, and sustainable fuels and materials.
Formula E sits naturally at the beginning of that arc. It gives us a laboratory for electric powertrains. It accelerates the development of energy management, regenerative braking, and software intelligence—capabilities that translate directly into hydrogen and hybrid systems. And it puts us in a world championship where innovation is not just encouraged but required.
Partnering with Yamaha on the powertrain and ABT on track means we’re building with teams who have both deep experience and shared ambitions. Between us, we’ve won more than a quarter of all Formula E races since the championship began. That’s not nostalgia. It’s capability.
What’s Changed in Formula E—and What Hasn’t
The new Gen3 Evo car marks the biggest conceptual step since the series began. Four‑wheel drive. A huge software footprint. Massive regeneration capability. In attack mode, drivers won’t just push more power—they’ll switch the car’s entire operating philosophy.
This shift matters not only for performance but for leadership. Modern motorsport teams are now software organisations as much as mechanical ones. That means:
- Attention moves from hardware to systems.
- Decision‑making speeds up.
- The boundary between driver and digital tools blurs.
The underlying question becomes: how do you build a team that can iterate quickly, communicate clearly, and learn faster than the competition?
Winning Is a Process, Not a Promise
PJ teased me about this during the podcast—my diplomatic way of saying we’re “building towards winning.” Let’s be honest: the goal is always to win. But the path to it is rarely linear.
During the early DS Techeetah era, we spent years refining the basics: teamwork, communication, alignment, and the ability to extract performance under pressure. Championships followed because the foundation was right.
That same foundation is what we are rebuilding now. You don’t shortcut culture. You accelerate it.
The Leader’s Job: Clarity, Curiosity, and the Courage to Pivot
I’ve long believed in a simple idea borrowed from Japanese manufacturing: go to the place. Great leaders don’t sit in meeting rooms and wait for updates—they walk the floor, talk to people, and discover the truths that never make it into presentations.
That approach helps solve several recurring challenges:
1. Communication Gaps
In motorsport, a missing piece of information can cost you a race. In business, it can stall projects for months. The only way to close these gaps is to be present—physically present—so you notice when someone seems unconvinced or unsure.
2. Alignment Across Partners
With Lola, Yamaha, ABT, and software partners all working together, clarity of intent is essential. Motorsport makes this easier because the aim is shared: win races. But the principle holds for any organisation—if the destination is clear, the route can adapt.
3. Leading Through Ambiguity
This is where strategic intent comes in. You don’t specify every step. You define the direction of travel. Honda’s breakthrough in the US market didn’t come from executing a rigid plan—it came from recognising opportunity and pivoting decisively.
4. Risk, Failure, and the No‑Blame Culture
Innovation demands risk. But people will only take risks if they trust they won’t be punished for outcomes that were encouraged. The fastest teams I’ve worked in were the ones most comfortable failing early, learning quickly, and moving on.
The Hidden Power of Marginal Gains
Motorsport is notorious for its budgets and its engineering battles, but some of the biggest performance improvements I’ve seen cost nothing at all. They came from marginal gains:
- A process tightened
- A communication path clarified
- A misunderstanding resolved
These micro‑improvements compound, quietly reshaping performance. Teams sometimes assume they need more equipment or more budget, when in reality what they need first is more clarity and more connection.
What Leaders Can Learn From the Paddock
If there’s a final reflection to leave with readers, it’s this: motorsport amplifies the fundamentals of leadership. Everything happens faster. The stakes are visible. The feedback is immediate.
But the behaviours that create winning teams are the same ones that help any organisation move faster toward value:
- Walk the floor.
- Communicate relentlessly.
- Encourage intelligent risk.
- Pivot decisively when new information emerges.
- Build alignment around a clear intent.
Formula E is evolving quickly, and so are we at Lola. But beneath all the change is a constant truth: people and culture win championships long before cars do.
And that’s as true in business as it is on the track.
