Championship Gold
Team Brady unveiled a championship gold livery for their 2026 UIM E1 World Championship title defence, celebrating back-to-back championships with a design that honours Tom Brady’s signature colour.
The back-to-back champions secured their second consecutive title at the Miami finale in November, defeating Rafael Nadal’s Team Rafa by three points. The new livery features significantly more gold woven throughout the RaceBird’s design, marking the team’s status as defending champions ahead of the season opener in Jeddah on January 23-24.
Team Brady has made waves in the E1 World Championship, not just topping the racing charts but also earning recognition for their forward-thinking Race for Change programme. As the team gears up for another season, I spoke to Sam Coleman about their environmental initiatives, technical challenges, and his thoughts about the new season.
The Race for Change initiative is Team Brady’s way of contributing to the E1 Blue Impact Championship. This championship isn’t just about speed, it challenges all nine teams to take real, measurable steps to restore the oceans and aquatic ecosystems.
Sam Coleman told Powerboat News:
Working alongside partners like the 4ocean Foundation, we managed to remove an impressive 19,500kg of ocean plastic last year. To put that into perspective, we pledged to clear 100kg of plastic for every championship point we earned in 2025 and that’s roughly the amount of plastic waste one person produces in a year, staggering isn’t it.
Looking ahead, we’re doubling down on our efforts, aiming to remove 200kg for every point in 2026. It’s a real team effort and something I’m incredibly proud of.
You mentioned team effort, so, is having the same driver partnership key to a successful season?
That continuity is huge for us. Emma and I have built a fantastic understanding over two seasons together. We know what’s needed to mount a serious championship challenge and, thanks to our established partnership, we can hit the ground running and focus straight away on what it’ll take to defend our title.
The series now heads into its third season and like Team Brady there are also two other teams racing with the same driver lineup from the inaugural season, Team Westbrook and Team Rafa who have kept with Tom Chiappe and Cris Lazarraga. Are they going to be your biggest championship rivals?
They’ll definitely be strong contenders, but honestly, you can’t count anyone out in this field. With pilot changes elsewhere, two new teams joining, and a few tweaks to the race format, it’s shaping up to be a competitive season. We’re proud to be the only team consistently fighting at the front over the past two years, but with nine other teams hungry for the title, it’s anyone’s game in 2026.
Team Leadership
Behind Team Brady’s back-to-back championship success stands the co-team principal partnership of Ben King and Joe Sturdy, who bring complementary expertise from motorsport’s highest levels.
King, whose career includes strategic roles at McLaren Automotive and Virgin Racing Formula E, handles the commercial and sustainability sides of the operation. Sturdy spent a decade in Formula 1, notably as Max Verstappen’s Trackside Power Unit Engineer at Red Bull Racing during their championship-winning campaigns.
The pair, who met studying Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes University, attribute their success to what they call the “aggregation of marginal gains” – continuous improvement across every aspect of performance.
In a joint statement from Team Brady, King and Sturdy said:
2025 was another successful season for the team, and becoming back-to-back World Champions came down to two things: consistent hard work and the discipline to think long-term.
During a slower start to the season, we didn’t fixate on individual race results and instead focused on the bigger picture, trusting the process and building momentum when it mattered most.
That approach transformed Team Brady’s race starts from “sub-par” to among the best in the championship – an example of their commitment to identifying weaknesses and systematically addressing them.
We’re heading into this season with confidence, but also with the understanding that things can change quickly in this sport, tactics will evolve and success will come down to being the fastest to adapt.
Coleman’s Confidence Levels
Keeping an eye on the competition is vital, but so is learning from past challenges, especially when it comes to unique venues like Jeddah where your experiences have been mixed.
During Season One, you accumulated twenty points and led the standings upon your departure from Saudi Arabia.
Last year, however, you faced an unresolved issue with the left foil, resulting in a fifth-place finish. Nevertheless, you proceeded to secure the championship title. How would you describe your level of confidence as you prepare to return?
We’re feeling confident. Every new season brings its own surprises, but we’re always ready to give it our all. The “left foil” issue we encountered last year is a great example of the challenges in this sport. For those unfamiliar, the foil is a wing-like structure beneath the boat that lifts it out of the water at speed, reducing drag and letting us go faster and more efficiently. When the left foil malfunctions, it affects the boat’s balance and handling. So, last year, it made for a tough race. Still, we worked hard to understand the problem and got the best result possible under the circumstances. Each time we’re on the water, we’re learning. That drive to improve, to control what we can, keeps us motivated and stops us from ever getting complacent.
With that spirit in mind, let’s talk about how the calendar’s changing and what it means for the team. The 2026 UIM E1 World Championship is expected to feature eight rounds, one more than last year. Does this additional round serve as a buffer for underperformance?
It’s brilliant to see the championship growing obviously more events mean more chances to race, and that’s what we love. But does the extra round give us a safety net for a bad weekend? Not really. Consistency is what wins championships. The points gaps between podium places are pretty significant, and there are even bonus points up for grabs during qualifying. So, every single round counts. You can’t view any race as a “buffer” every result matters.
Speaking about the technical side of things, let’s touch on some of the debates going on in the paddock. At present, competitors are provided with the propellers used during racing. In other ‘Formula’ series, teams source their own propellers. Do you consider allowing teams to supply their own propellers would be an innovative advancement for E1?
Ok, I’m on the fence for this one, I’d certainly welcome the opportunity if we had the ability to test more. I really see propellers as more of a rule change than an innovation at the moment.
Counter argument to this as a rule change is that right now, we have the ability to attract the best motorsport, sailing and powerboat engineers (and pilots) to a new discipline. Would this give an advantage to those with the experience in the ‘dark art’ of propeller modification? What would really add to the racing? Is there much space for innovation left in propeller design? For innovation are there maybe areas the marine industry could lean on F1 or Formula E to integrate? Such as powertrain efficiencies, and the foils would be a great place to focus for the future too. It’s a great point of discussion!
Now, moving from technical debates to safety on the water. You went through the dunk test with the Ospreys last weekend. Was that an E1 requirement or something you chose to do, even though some racers actually dread it?
The ‘dunk’ test, as with all canopied racing, is a UIM Super Licence requirement. It’s also something I organised with Osprey Rescue for two reasons: it’s good to remind yourself of the procedures to follow in the event of a crash but primarily to dunk Ben King and Joe Sturdy, the Team Brady Co-Team Principals too. They got to experience the sensation of being upside down in a cockpit and what it takes to remain calm under pressure there. Every year I have the same bit of anxiety about doing the test but sitting there upside down underwater knowing you are in control with a safety team there to assist if needed is a surprisingly calming experience for me.
Team Brady’s journey in the E1 World Championship is about more than just winning races. It’s about pushing boundaries.
Technically, environmentally, and personally.
As the team continues to innovate on and off the water, their commitment to teamwork, learning, and making a difference remains at the heart of everything they do.
If it happened in powerboat racing during the last forty years the chances are that Chris Davies was there either photographing it or writing about it.
During that time, he has travelled the globe covering both offshore and circuit racing for series promotors, race teams, PR companies, and a whole raft of publications.
