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Nato to make Nissan return in Formula E
Norman Nato will remain in Formula E next season, partnering Oliver Rowland at Nissan.
Nato was let go by Andretti at the end of last season to make way for newly-appointed Porsche factory driver Nico Mueller, leaving his future in the category uncertain, but he's now inked a deal that will return him to the team he spent the 2022-23 season with.
“I'm really happy to be back with the team. We ended Season 9 strongly together and I'm looking to picking up where we left off,” said Nato, who secured the team's first podium finish under full Nissan ownership in the second race of the 2023 Rome E-Prix. “We will be aiming to perform straight away, so the fact I know the car and the team will be helpful.
Nato will race alongside Season 10 title challenger Rowland, replacing Sacha Fenestraz, whom he was teamed with in his previous Nissan stint.
“Oli proved how quick he is last season, we've been battling on track since Formula Renault 2.0 but never been teammates,” said Nato. “I'm sure we will get along well and hopefully we can share some podiums together. It will be interesting to see how the car has improved, and the goal is clear. We want to win races and championships.
“Finally, I wish Sacha all the best, he's a top guy and it's never easy to replace someone you previously partnered with. I'm sure we will be racing each other again very soon.”
Fenestraz's chance of remaining on the Formula E grid appear slim, with just one seat apiece at Abt Lola and Envision Racing, as well as both ERT openings remaining unconfirmed.
“We're excited for Season 11 after a very good performance in the last campaign,” said Nissan Formula E Team managing director and team principal Tommaso Volpe. “We've refreshed our driver line-up by welcoming back Norman, who will bring his wealth of experience and performance. Norman knows the team well and showed his talent when he was previously with us. His feedback and insight are valuable and he has a track record of developing cars, so we are delighted to see him return. Oli had a fantastic Season 10, and we're confident he can continue at that level. We believe that Norman and Oli will form a strong pairing, both are team players and will do their best to help us improve throughout the upcoming year.
"At the same time and while it hasn't been an easy decision, we have to say goodbye to Sacha. He has been a fundamental part of the establishment and development of Nissan Formula E Team, and we thank him for his hard work and his ever positive attitude. We're proud to have grown together with him, and wish him all the best for his future career.”
Dominik Wilde
Dominik often jokes that he was born in the wrong country – a lover of NASCAR and IndyCar, he covered both in a past life as a junior at Autosport in the UK, but he’s spent most of his career to date covering the sliding and flying antics of the U.S.’ interpretation of rallycross. Rather fitting for a man that says he likes “seeing cars do what they’re not supposed to do”, previously worked for a car stunt show, and once even rolled a rally car with Travis Pastrana. He was also comprehensively beaten in a kart race by Sebastien Loeb once, but who hasn’t been?
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