Jay McKenzie

as of 2023 FE Mexico City ePrix

Jay McKenzie (born 3rd December 1998) is a Polish racing driver who races in GP4 FE Offline Championship for DS Techeetah. He won the 2014 and 2016 title with Mercedes, but from 2017-2018 he also competed with Canadian nationality in 5 races being (Australia, Canada, Britain, USA, Mexico). He moved to Renault after getting sacked by the German manufacturer.

He is very successful driver who has driven in the main series of the OC from 2006 until 2019 and won his first championship with Mercedes in 2014.

A driver of supreme skill and merit, McKenzie is one of only a handful of current drivers who competed in the Championships inaugural event, the Bahrain Grand Prix 2006. He is also one of only 2 drivers, the other being Joseph Willows, to have competed in every single race since the series inception.

### Formative F1 Years (2006-09)

Debuting in 2006 for Toyota, McKenzie established himself as a star of the future, scoring 2 fine podiums for the midfield marquee in his first season. 2007 yielded a move to BMW where further success came his way, he won his third race for the German Manufacturer in Bahrain to take his first F1 win, a further win that season followed in Belgium as McKenzie finished 6th overall in the standings.

Continuing with BMW into 2008 now with a car completely befitting of his talents, the popular Pole won again in Bahrain for the second season running, taking his first Pole Position in the process. Now scoring regular podiums for the team, McKenzie would end up finishing fourth overall behind the dominant McLaren's and Ferrari's. 2009 was supposed to be the year everyone anticipated McKenzie and BMW to challenge for the championship after two seasons where the team arguably over-performed. This was not to be, 2009 was a struggle for most of the championships established frontrunners, and BMW faired just as badly as the likes of McLaren and Ferrari. A handful of podiums and a consistent run of points scoring positions was about as good as it got for McKenzie and the team as he fought to 8th overall, which taking into account the competition and difficulty of the season, was a fine result all things considered.

### Renault (2010-12)

Frustrated with the backward step at BMW and the subsequent rebranding for 2010 that would significantly reduce the input from BMW, McKenzie sought out a move to another Engine Manufacturer, French Marquee, Renault. Unfortunately, the season did not produce the results McKenzie had wished, he scored a solitary podium for the team in Spain. He ended up 10th overall, a point behind teammate Evan Byrne who had managed to win in Turkey that season. Contractually obliged to continue into 2011 McKenzie reluctantly stayed for that season as his teammate moved to the front-running McLaren, much to his dismay.

2011 was McKenzie's worst on record. Reunited with long time collaborator and friend, George Roke McKenzie failed to score in the opening 7 races, whilst Roke scored points in 5 of those 7. Form improved from Canada onwards, with a string of strong performances which dragged him from his lowly position to 13th overall at the end of the season, however this was still behind his teammate who was 11th.

Without a win since 2008, McKenzie was under pressure following his lacklustre 2011, but was still retained by Renault into 2012 now called Lotus-Renault F1. The 2012 car was a marked return to form for both Renault and McKenzie, a podium two races into the year in Malaysia and a further one two races later in Bahrain helped to restore a lot of the standing he had lost following his lacklustre 2011. Consistently scoring points that season, McKenzie finally won for the first time in 4 seasons, a brilliant performance in a attrition filled Singapore. If it hadn't been for numerous retirements from good positions in the latter part of the year, he would have finished higher than his eventual 7th overall and would probably have overhauled teammate Roke who ended up 2 points better off than his Polish compatriot. Nonetheless, it was a welcome return to form for the Pole, who put two difficult and frustrating seasons behind him to restore some of his reputation.

### Mercedes (2013-17)

McKenzie and Roke were both approached by Mercedes for 2013 with both drivers accepting the drives with the view to long term success at the German manufacturer. The season was a complete success for McKenzie, who took 2 wins in his first season and scored consistent podiums for the team. He also comprehensively outperformed Roke for the first time in 2 seasons. He ended up fourth overall, equalling his best finish overall from the BMW glory days in 2008.

Pre-Season testing in 2014 rubber stamped Mercedes as Championship challengers with the best car on the grid. McKenzie was now partnered by Wais Kuba following Roke leaving the series, and the Congolese Driver set the pace for all 4 testing days thus making him the favourite for the season. The actual season could not have been further from the predictions. McKenzie dominated his new teammate, winning 6 races to Kuba's 3 as he went on to win the World Championship for the first time, winning the title by a record margin that has only been bettered by Florian Völker in 2015. The championship win was met by widespread acclaim and support with many saying it was a deserving result and proof of the resolve of McKenzie to come back from difficult times to win the ultimate crown.

2015 saw McKenzie partnered by Will Neller and the Mercedes challenger looked to be as good as the previous season. McKenzie initially struggled however, despite winning the second race that year, Neller was far more consistent in terms of podiums. The second half of the season proved to be more fruitful however, 3 wins in the final 5 rounds meant he was still in title contention at the last race of the season albeit many points adrift of Florian Völker who had made great strides that season to move Ferrari to the forefront of the championship. McKenzie fell short at the final race coming home 2nd behind his title rival who clinched his fourth championship. McKenzie ended up being only the second driver to beat Neller as a teammate, doing so by a 37 point margin, albeit Neller suffered twice as many retirements as McKenzie.

As 2016 beckoned, little did anyone know how successful a year it would transpire to be for both McKenzie and Mercedes. The new car was a revelation, topping all 4 days of testing by a considerable margin from it's closest competitors, and Neller parked it on Pole for the season opener in Australia, eventually taking a dominant win. McKenzie fell to 4th thanks to a troubled strategy on a circuit famed for it's difficulty in overtaking, nonetheless he bounced back with a win in Bahrain the following week. Further wins in Spain and Russia put him in the driving seat for the championship as his teammate, while quicker in Qualifying, often faltered in the races leaving McKenzie well in front come the middle of the season.

However, an exceptionally poor run of form in the middle of the season saw Neller claw back all the ground he had lost, McKenzie retired in 3 consecutive races with Neller winning 2 of them to overhaul his points deficit and lead the championship. What followed for the rest of the season was a titanic duel between both Mercedes drivers, with the gap between them never being more than a race win. McKenzie was in fine form however, following his 3 back to back DNF's, he didn't finish outside the top 2 for the rest of the season. A costly retirement in the US and a rookie error in Abu Dhabi for Neller, meant McKenzie was the championship leader and favourite going into the finale in Brazil. He didn't disappoint, winning the race comfortably and failing to drop points to his teammate, allowing him his second world championship, only the third driver in history to win more than one championship. The Mercedes pair of McKenzie and Neller has since been widely viewed as the strongest pairing in championship history, with the two winning 17 of the 21 races between them in the season, taking the constructors championship by a frankly staggering 341 points, only 26 points less than their nearest challengers Red Bull. Mercedes had set the standard for cars in 2016 and more of the same was expected for next season with the same proven lineup.

2017 would prove to spark a gradual decline in the popular Pole's career. Ferrari and even Red Bull had closed the gap and there was an overwhelming feeling that this season would not be as dominant in the past. Unlike in 2016 where he had generally outpaced his teammate, 2017 was the reverse. Neller proved to be in scintillating form whilst McKenzie struggled with the new Mercedes car. He failed to register even a podium until the Seventh round of the season, by which time Neller had already won a Grand Prix and scored 3 further podiums. This poor form continued throughout and greatly plagued his season, as poor overall pace meant he was limited to just 2 Grand Prix wins the whole season. A strong run of podiums in the mid part of the season did little to salvage the damage done in the opening hand of the year and despite miraculously being in title contention at the final race of the season, the resounding feeling in the paddock was that the Pole had seen better days.

Somewhat incredibly and in spite of what had been a fairly ordinary season, McKenzie came within an inch of a third world title in Brazil. Neller, fueled very heavily, made a plethora of errors and was forced to pit for damage early in the race, dropping him to last and out of the points. McKenzie meanwhile was winning at the second round of stops and looked to be on course for the title with Neller not scoring enough points. A fateful collision between Florian Völker and Rick Yan led to carnage in the pack and several retirements which benefitted Neller massively, earning him enough points to win the title. This was compounded by an error on McKenzie's part when lapping the Manor of Etienne Jones which forced him to pit late on and handed the win to Joseph Willows who leapfrogged McKenzie into 2nd in the Championship as a result. Neller took the title for the one and only time in his career as a result.

Despite comfortably retaining their constructors and drivers crowns, Mercedes decided a full overhaul of their lineup was needed for 2018. Neller had decided before the year had started to leave at the end of his three year deal, and the poor form of McKenzie in the early part of the year had motivated Mercedes to completely change their 2018 lineup. Somewhat unluckily, McKenzie found himself stripped of his Mercedes seat, a team he had won 25 of his 29 Grand Prix's with, as well as guiding them to win three constructors crowns and 2 drivers titles. Salvation came in the shape of his former employers Renault, who were desperate for an experienced lineup following 2 highly disappointing years stuck firmly in midfield.

### Renault (2018)

McKenzie was keen to bounce back following his Mercedes ousting. Unfortunately the new Renault was far from competitive compared to his former team, and as such McKenzie was only able to score a few low scoring points finishes in the opening rounds of the new season.