The question supporting newest Formula E team principal: 'What would Frank do?'

Jim Wright has revealed the guiding principle behind his new role as team principal of Fortescue Zero Racing: asking himself what Sir Frank Williams would have done in his position.

Wright was confirmed as team boss of the newly formed Formula E outfit after Fortescue Zero bought out the Penske Autosport operation in September, with the squad set to compete under the Fortescue Zero Racing name from the start of the Gen4 era in the 2026/27 campaign.

The motorsport veteran has spent decades in the paddock, including more than 10 years at Williams F1 between 1994 and 2006, where he rose from leading sponsorship sales to head of marketing and a seat on the team's management board, working directly under Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head.

Speaking to RacingNews365 about why now felt like the right moment to step into the top job, Wright pointed to that grounding alongside one of the sport's most respected figures.

"I've been in motorsport all my life," began telling Wright. "I'm a very lucky guy, and I've learned from some true icons of the sport, like Frank Williams, being alongside him, so I think the time is right.

"I feel ready to take on this role. I've got experience, and I've been in Formula E, working alongside all of the team principals in my FETAMA role, which I had for 10 years.

"So I know Formula E inside out. I know what good looks like. I know what mediocre looks like. I know what bad looks like.

"And it's my job now to make sure that we create something which is really, really good, and that Fortescue can be really proud of."

The Williams DNA within Fortescue Zero Racing

Wright's decade coordinating the Formula E Teams and Manufacturers Association (FETAMA) gave him a unique vantage point inside the paddock, working across rival garages to align teams and manufacturers on governance, sporting regulations and the technical roadmaps that shaped the Gen3 era and now Gen4.

That experience followed earlier commercial roles at Venturi, Mahindra and Andretti, on top of his formative years at Williams and spells with Toro Rosso and Virgin Racing/Marussia.

Fortescue Zero itself carries Williams heritage. The outfit traces its lineage directly to Williams Advanced Engineering, the technology arm founded by Williams F1, which was bought by Fortescue in 2022 and later rebranded. 

The business had already supplied the spec battery packs for Formula E's Gen1 and Gen3 cars as well as the PitBoost system before Fortescue Zero's move to become a full works entrant powered by Jaguar.

Asked what his leadership style will look like, Wright explained: "I'm trying consciously, with every big decision, to think, 'What would Frank do here?' And Frank was a huge inspiration to me, certainly a mentor, and I learned a lot from the way he approached things, and Patrick Head as well.

"I was fortunate enough to work alongside both of them. So I think my approach to big decision-making will be: let's look at this from all angles.

"Let's be calm, reasoned, and ask, 'What would Frank do?' So that is going to be my approach."