HYDERABAD, India – The Nissan Formula E Team secured its points in the first Hyderabad, India, E-Prix in history. In a chaotic race, Norman Nato finished in seventh place and Sacha Fenestraz, who had an incident when he was able to climb the podium, was in 12th position in Round 4 of Season 9.
Nato started in 14th and continued at the strong pace of the bolide. Despite being hit, and forced to stop in the pit due to a flat tire, the French driver returned to the track to secure seventh place and his first points for the team, in addition to winning an additional point for having made the fastest lap. of the race.
Fenestraz impressed again in qualifying, advancing to the Duels stage for the second time this season. He narrowly missed the semi-final, but started fourth in the race due to penalties imposed on other drivers due to on-track limits.
The French-Argentine rider was challenging the riders occupying the top three positions at the start of the race, but had the bad luck to get caught up in an incident and lost several positions, returning to race in 12th place.
“We never look for excuses if we don’t deliver a good performance, but this time the team worked flawlessly all weekend, except for a small problem in Norman’s qualifications”, said Tommaso Volpe, Team Director and General Manager of the Team. Formula E Nissan.
“Our two drivers started the race with everything – Sacha competing for a place on the podium and Norman recovering several positions. But unfortunately Sacha was prevented from delivering an excellent result due to a failure that is not his fault. He definitely had the potential to score a lot of points today. The Norman had a brilliant race, moving up several positions despite having to stop, finishing 7th. We know our car is fast, so we’ll come back fighting to be at the front of the grid in Cape Town.”
Pilots’ Comments
Sacha Fenestraz
“Overall, the feeling is one of frustration. We had a great chance of getting on the podium or at least finishing in the top 5. It’s hard to swallow, but that’s racing and we know we can perform. Qualifications were good; this was my second time at the Duels this season and I think we could have made it there, but I made a mistake in Turns 1 and 2 and ended up missing out. Despite this, 4th was still a good starting position and we showed our strength in the race. Although we gave everything until the end, the result was beyond our reach. Now we just need to keep our heads up and keep moving forward. We have a good car and an excellent team, we are progressing really fast and I am sure the results will show soon”.
Norman Nato
“It’s really nice to score my first points of the season, but I still feel like we could have achieved more today. Halfway through the race I was running in the top 10 but I got hit and I had a flat tire so I had to stop. This cost us a lot of time and positions, so to have recovered to finish seventh demonstrates how well the car and strategy came together. The Safety Car arrived at the right time for us, but I still had to manage the race and stay out of trouble to regain lost positions. We still have some areas to improve, mainly in qualifying, but the car is fast and if we can qualify further up the grid, we have the potential to score some nice points. We are now looking forward to coming to Cape Town and continuing our development there.”
About Nissan in Formula E
Nissan debuted in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Season 5 (2018/2019), becoming the first and only Japanese automaker to participate in the all-electric category.
In Season 7 (2020/2021), Nissan announced its long-term commitment to Formula E and the Generation 3 (Gen3) car era, which runs from Season 9 (2022/2023) until the end of Season 12 (2025/2026) in the all-electric racing category.
With Nissan’s takeover of e.dams in April 2022, the Japanese automaker has taken full control of its stake in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
In June 2022, Nissan announced that it will supply its electric powertrain technology to McLaren Racing throughout the Gen3 era of Formula E.
In Season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz will drive for the Nissan Formula E Team.
Nissan is competing in Formula E to bring the excitement and fun of zero-emission electric vehicles to a global audience. As part of its goal to achieve carbon neutrality across all operations and product lifecycles by 2050, Nissan aims to electrify all new vehicles sold by the early 2030s in all major markets.
The Japanese automaker intends to use its expertise in transferring know-how and technology between the tracks and the streets, to offer even better electric vehicles to its customers.
About Formula E
Since it was created in 2020, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has been the first global sport to be certified with a net zero carbon footprint, with investments in certified climate protection projects in all countries hosting its races to offset the emissions of each season.
All cars in the championship are electrically powered, making the series a competitive platform for testing and developing the latest electric powertrain technologies.
The biggest builders on the planet compete with each other on street circuits and Formula E promotes the adoption of sustainable mobility in urban centers, betting on combating atmospheric pollution and reducing the effects of climate change.
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