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Promising Start for Nissan Formula E Team in Chaotic São Paulo Season Opener

Nissan Formula E Team showed impressive potential at the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E season-opener in São Paulo, with both drivers leading the race at different points. However, penalties ultimately cost the team a strong finish.

Race Highlights

  • Oliver Rowland started from the front row and took an early lead, managing energy well. Despite a strong performance, a red flag disrupted his strategy, and a drive-through penalty for overpower pushed him out of contention.
  • Norman Nato fought hard from sixth on the grid, briefly leading before receiving a drive-through penalty. After battling back into the top 10, another penalty for a restart position error dropped him to 13th.
  • Final results: Rowland finished 14th, Nato 13th.

Team Reactions

Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: "It was a very unfortunate race, where our finishing positions were heavily compromised by penalties. It's obviously frustrating not to score points, but the result doesn't do justice to our performance on track. We displayed fantastic pace both in qualifying and the first half of the race, and Oli showed he had the potential to win. However, we need to accept our mistakes and work on the aspects that cost us, both on the car and in race management, and make sure it doesn't happen again. Today we proved how competitive we can be this season, and we'll be looking to bounce back in Mexico."

Oliver Rowland, driver, Nissan Formula E Team: "We were strong in practice and qualifying, and it was great to start on the front row. The first half of the race was perfect, taking the lead at Turn 1 and managing the energy really well. We were looking good to win but then the red flag came. We made some mistakes and unfortunately dropped out of the points. The positives are that the car is fast, I was able to lead and still be energy efficient but we made too many errors, which is something we will aim to rectify in the next rounds."

Norman Nato, driver, Nissan Formula E Team: "We have positives to take from the opening event, particularly from qualifying, where both Oli and I were quick. P6 was a good place to start, but unfortunately the race didn't unfold how we wanted. We had a chance to be on the podium today, but we made several mistakes which cost us a lot, so we will need to address that for the next races. However, the potential is there and it was good to be back on track with Nissan, I worked really well with the team and we'll focus on improving in Mexico."

Sérgio Sette Câmara, reserve and simulator driver, Nissan Formula E Team: "I've enjoyed attending my first race weekend with Nissan Formula E Team, and I think we proved that we have major potential for the season ahead. To be so strong in qualifying and then have a good race pace is extremely promising. I believe Oli was likely to win the race if not for the red flag, and Norman could have been up there as well, but we got unlucky today. However, this can happen in Formula E, and we need to focus on the positives. The car was fast and efficient and I'm sure we will be back up there fighting for the rest of the campaign."

Looking Ahead

Despite a challenging start, the Nissan Formula E Team demonstrated strong pace and energy efficiency. The focus now shifts to addressing mistakes and delivering results at the next race in Mexico on January 11th, 2025.