'As a team principal, I feel like I'm constantly under pressure'

It was 1957. A historic year in Formula 1 history, as the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio won his fifth and final world title. He did so in a Maserati, who then bid farewell as a factory team in F1 - disappearing from the circuits with formula cars. That was until the end of 2022. With team boss James Rossiter at the helm, the iconic Maserati are back in a prominent motorsport series (Formula E): "I would say there's still some way to go, but we're definitely in the process of getting there and trying to create a dream team."

It was quite remarkable: Maserati is among the world's most famous sports car brands, but in motorsport, the Modena-based Italian car manufacturer was not active. That changed as the owners of the then Venturi Racing renamed their team and started a partnership with Maserati. So now the name Maserati is back in a world championship again. "I think not just for us as a racing team, as Maserati MSG Racing, we feel the excitement surrounding Maserati's comeback to motorsports, competitive motorsport," said team boss James Rossiter in an exclusive interview with GPblog. "I think seeing the reception from all of the fans around the world because Maserati does have a global fan base has been quite amazing. It was obviously incredible in Rome [during the E-Prix] to see the excitement and support from the Italian crowd."

As a Brit amongst the Italian passion

Rossiter (39) has a long history in motorsport, first and foremost as a driver. For instance, he was a test driver for the F1 team Super Aguri, BAR Honda and Force India, while he also competed in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). He was also the sporting director and reserve driver of DS Techeetah. At the start of the season just ended, Rossiter joined Maserati MSG Racing. As a down-to-earth Brit in a team full of Italian passion.

"It's been nice to see their emotions," Rossiter said about interacting with his Italian colleagues. "When we achieve a podium, they're definitely not shy of sharing their emotions, which is great. Sometimes with the British, the stiff upper lip prevents the tears of joy when perhaps they should be shed, and the Italians will shed them for us. It’s been very emotional to have the Italians with us."

The team is ten years old and one of the founders of the championship. Most of the team personnel is French, with powertrain support from Stellantis. The Italians work for the newly formed Maserati Corse and they are there to represent the brand and the partnership. It is up to Rossiter to manage all the characters and qualities in such a way that Maserati becomes a championship contender in Formula E. "Every single person is unique, and you have to treat everyone as an individual, let them express their feelings. And that's how you get the best out of every single person. So, it's just allowing people to be themselves, giving them the comfort and really empowering them to feel comfortable in who they are," the team boss said.

"I really started in 2019 when I decided that I wanted to move into the management of motorsport. I felt that after 20 years of racing, I had a lot to give back to the sport. And after racing for different teams all over the world, I felt that there were a lot of differences that I'd seen and strengths and weaknesses in every team that if you pull all of those strengths together, you can really go out there and win championships. And for me, the attraction was to come here and have the opportunity to create a team that I would have loved to have raced for as a driver. I would say there's still some way to go, but we're definitely in the process of getting there and trying to create that dream team."

Rossiter speaks from experience

James Rossiter has an advantage over a lot of other team owners: he knows from his experience how top drivers think, what they feel and wants to perform at their best: "The experience that some of us have as drivers or ex-drivers, it's a unique insight into the way the team operates, into the way a team works. You have to be willing to learn a lot because, you know, it's a huge jump from driving the car to being responsible for the entire team. So it's been a huge learning process for me, certainly over the last four years, and trying to make sure that I do myself justice and that I fulfil my potential is probably the key motivating factor."

The pressure a team boss feels is completely different, nothing like what a driver experiences, Rossiter knows. "As a team principal, I feel like I'm constantly under pressure. But the peaks of pressure are less than as a driver. So as a driver, you have massive, massive peaks of pressure, and then you have some time of relaxation and huge peaks of pressure and then some time to recover. And it's constantly like this throughout the season, whereas as a team principal, you're just constantly under pressure. You've always got something to manage, always something to improve, always someone to help, someone to try to reassure. There's always something to be done as a team principal to get more performance consistently throughout the year."

It seems impossible to have to work for decades in a competitive environment like top-level motorsport without getting burnout somewhere down the road. "I was kindly reminded by my HR department; I need to take some holidays. I haven't taken any to date. It's definitely a full-time job. But then also, I think it's a job that's out of passion, out of love for this sport, dedication. And also, when you're a winner, you know what it takes to win. And if you don't do yourself justice, that's my biggest fear, not fulfilling my potential. So just making sure that I'm putting in the effort that everyone deserves from me is also what I expect of myself. That's the biggest motivator. And at some point, I'll be able to sit back, hopefully, in another 20 years' time going and look back on a nice management career."

Ever back in Formula One?

With his years of working in Formula 1, his experience in management and racing and his young age, a move - at some point - to F1 might be an option. "I'll be honest, it's crossed my mind. Yes. I think that Formula E is an incredibly exciting space to be in. It's given me certainly a lot in my life so far. And it's given me the ability to move into the management of a senior team in a world championship. It's given me the opportunity to become a team principal in a world championship. And I'm very happy to be here. But yeah, there's certainly some long-term ambition that may lie in other areas."