With the news that former Jaguar TCS Racing technical manager Phil Charles is set to be unveiled by DS Penske, Motorsport Week takes a look at one of the most reputable technical minds within the FIA Formula E series.
In an exclusive by The Race, it has been revealed that Charles is expected to be announced by DS Penske in a role presumed to be similar to the one he left at Jaguar before the start of this season, officially taking-up the job in Sao Paolo, though the report also claims that Charles has already attended a Teams and Manufacturers’ Association meeting last week on behalf of the French outfit.
In Charles, Penske will be gaining a highly-respected off-track personality and engineering talent within the world of Formula E, whose recent work has seen Jaguar become title-challengers in 2023, and one of the favourites for this year. The move comes at a crucial time, with work into the Gen3Evo cars commencing in the summer. It is also thought that Penske’s move for Charles was prompted by the team’s charismatic French driver Jean-Eric Vergne, who knows Charles better than most.
The pair’s working relationship dates back to 2013, when Vergne was driving in Formula 1 for Toro Rosso, where Charles spent four years, three of which as Chief Race Engineer, spending a brief time working with now-three-times World Champion Max Verstappen. He previously spent six years with the Renault F1 team in various engineering positions, during which time the team reached its peak with back-to-back Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles in 2005 and 2006.
After leaving Toro Rosso in 2017, Charles was recruited by Jaguar, and in the six years up until his departure, the team steadily rose from last in the Teams’ Championship to regular points scorers, and now one of the teams to be reckoned with. In an interview with renowned journalist James Allen upon joining Jaguar, Charles stated that the technical manager role was “kind of like a chief race engineer and team manager rolled into one.
“It’s a good opportunity to do clever engineering and organise the running of the team – all the things I enjoy.”
If Charles’ role within the Penske set-up is thought to be similar, then Team Principal Jay Penske will likely allow Charles to be in charge of much of the day-to-day running of the team. Despite the position that Jaguar are currently in, Charles’ move may be a shrewd one with Penske currently exceeding expectations, sitting 2nd behind Jaguar in the Teams’ Championship after some stellar drives from Vergne.
