Nissan Formula E Team took an excellent win in Round 2 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, thanks to several late overtakes from Oliver Rowland to ensure its maiden GEN3 Evo success.
Earlier today, the Brit made the semi-finals of the duels, lining up in fourth on the grid, with his teammate Norman Nato starting from P18, after a frustrating session.
Rowland made his way into the top-three by Turn 1 on the second lap and pulled off a stunning last corner overtake to move up another place as the race approached the halfway stage. Dropping back and saving his Attack Mode until later compared to his fellow competitors, he managed to utilize the remainder of his extra power on the late Safety Car restart, moving from fourth to first in less than a minute to wrap up a remarkable victory in Mexico.
On the other side of the garage, Nato battled hard with those around him in a tightly matched field, ensuring a clean performance which moved him up five positions finishing P13.
This result now means that Nissan sits second in the Manufacturers’ Standings after the opening two rounds of Season 11, and sees Rowland move up into the same place in the Drivers’ Championship. The series continues next month with a maiden trip to Jeddah as the first double-header of the campaign takes place on February 13-15.
Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: “It’s an amazing result for the team and to achieve this victory in Mexico, which is such an important market for Nissan, and in front of these brilliant fans is very special. Oli’s performance was excellent, with strong pace and brilliant overtakes in the very last laps of the race. Norman had great speed as well, but we made a mistake in qualifying which compromised his starting place and he couldn’t do much despite a solid drive throughout the whole race. Overall, it’s been an incredible day and the performance this weekend gives us lots of confidence heading into the rest of the season.”
Oliver Rowland, driver, Nissan Formula E Team: I’m delighted to take this victory in Mexico, as it’s always been a track that I’ve wanted to win at with these amazing fans in this incredible stadium. It was a great strategy from the team today, but we were initially unlucky with the timing of the Safety Car as I had just activated Attack Mode. However, fortunately once this period ended, we were left with around a minute of extra power, so I just knew I had to be decisive when making those overtakes. It’s an unbelievable feeling to get this win for the team after I made a small mistake in the duels. My thoughts go out to my Performance Engineer, Asier Sebastián, who was taken to hospital this morning with acute appendicitis, and I wish him all the best in his recovery and hope he can be back with us at the track soon.”
Norman Nato, driver, Nissan Formula E Team: “We showed strong potential throughout the event but unfortunately, we failed to put everything together at the crucial time in qualifying. We pitted early and were then out of sequence and couldn’t generate the tire temperature needed to advance to the duels. This unfortunately compromised our race as Mexico is one of the trickiest tracks to make your way through the field. I felt comfortable in the car today, but it was difficult after qualifying. The positives are that we’re now second the Manufacturers’ Standings and Oli picked up the win so we’re heading in the right direction.”
