Nissan Formula E Team demonstrated excellent pace and led the São Paulo E-Prix for the majority of the event, before penalties denied the team points at a dramatic 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship curtain raiser.
An excellent qualifying for the squad saw Oliver Rowland line up on the front row for the first race of the GEN3 Evo era, with Nato close behind in sixth. The British driver’s fantastic getaway launched him into the lead, which he held for several laps. Meanwhile, Frenchman Nato was battling hard in the points-paying positions, and had worked his way to the front before a drive-through penalty for overpower dropped him down the order.
After exchanging positions during the Attack Mode phase, Rowland re-gained the lead just before a red flag interruption. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the stoppage, Rowland lost more than two minutes of his extra power and was relegated to second for the restart. However, another superb start meant he would re-claim the lead and pull away from the chasing pack, before he also received a drive-through penalty for overpower.
Nato had worked his way back up the order strongly, and was inside the top-10 before the second red flag intervention. At the final restart, Nato fought hard with those around him, coming across the line in sixth, before a post-race penalty for not being in the correct position at the restart dropped him to 13th, while Rowland came home in 14th.
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.”
