Sergio Sette Camara is set for a Formula E race return by stepping in at Nissan for Norman Nato at Berlin's double-header.
The Berlin event clashes with the Interlagos World Endurance Championship round in July, which Nato is already committed to with Cadillac.
The former Dragon and ERT driver Sette Camara was confirmed as Nissan’s reserve and development driver last week after he was replaced by Porsche-affiliated driver David Beckmann at the new Cupra Kiro entity that uses Porsche powertrains.
Sette Camara is also acting as a reserve for Nissan's customer team McLaren at this year's races.
Nissan returnee Nato had already signed for the Cadillac Racing squad, which will be run by the Jota team next year, when the opportunity to replace Sacha Fenestraz surfaced at the end of the 2023-24 campaign. He was confirmed in September as joining Oliver Rowland in the manufacturer squad.
In the Sao Paulo 2024-25 season opener Nato and all of the other Nissan-powered drivers were hit with a drive-through for system control issues.
Nato still finished sixth before a five-second penalty for an incorrect grid position knocked him back to 13th.
His team-mate Oliver Rowland had been in control of the race early on before his drive-through came at an inopportune time.
Nato's Cadillac deal means he has to prioritise the WEC round and will be replaced for both races at the penultimate e-prix event of the current season in mid-July.
"We know that there's this dynamic happening in Formula E where a few teams have drivers with clashes with WEC,” Sette Camara told The Race.
"Then they’ve got to put someone else in obviously. That turns the reserve seat into a lot more of an attractive one.
"I would be lying if I said I'm not thinking about that. But regardless of that opening, because I know it's not definitive, as a reserve, you know if you could step in if needed."
Nissan Formula E boss Tommaso Volpe told The Race that "if this is required then yes, as our reserve driver, it would be Sergio who would in that case step in for Norman".
Sette Camara described his decision to take the Nissan reserve role as being "easy" because of "how much they evolved last season".
"They went from being a midfield team to a definitive top team last year and I like it when I see a team on the rise like that," he added. "They're investing a lot and they're the biggest brand in the championship in terms of car sales and overall commercial brand car sales.
"This is something I value. After the whole ERT experience, I'm valuing it a lot, to work with people that I know and that I feel comfortable with.
"There's a few members here that I knew from DAMS (from his F2 campaign in 2019), I felt good energy coming from the team. Going forward in my career, I'll put more value into working in a place that I feel comfortable, than sometimes even the car or the commercial or financial dealings or anything, because this makes a huge difference."
A 'shady' ERT exit
Sette Camara told The Race that as soon as he heard there would be a Porsche powertrain in the new look team, he expressed his interest in staying with the team he first joined in 2021 because “this would be a more competitive car”.
"But then when Porsche came in, they wanted their driver. So, then that's where I seemed to be put out," he said.
"But it was not clear because some people in the team wanted me, some people didn't seem to want me. I don't know if they were being honest or not because it was very shady.
"They told me very late. So, when they gave me the definitive no, it was after the Madrid (Jarama) test.
"So, that was it. It was a bit strange because I feel like no matter what, you should at least have some level of transparency to the person. And considering I drove two years there and so on it was disappointing.
"But it is part of life. I wish them the best regardless. And Dan (Ticktum) is racing there. I'm very good friends with him. He's one of the best drivers I know, so, I'm cheering for him as well as cheering for Nissan boys and girls more than anything."
CUPRA KIRO deputy team principal Russell O’Hagan told The Race last week in Sao Paulo that “Sergio is a fantastic driver and we had a couple of good years with him.
"I would say there were two events last year where he genuinely put together probably one of the best complete race weekends of anyone on the field.
"Saudi, maybe Tokyo, where even from the first practice session, he would set a good laptime and then slowly build on it. He didn't put a foot wrong, delivered each session really well, maximised the cars.”
Both CUPRA KIRO and Porsche have been vocal in denying that Beckmann was shoehorned into the team at Porsche’s behest with O’Hagan saying that "I know there's some kind of understanding that it was Porsche to us, but it wasn't".
“In kind of looking at the project coming together quite late, how do you fast track that transfer of information, of learning?" he added.
"All these systems, the cars are so complicated in terms of systems and controls, development, and not only where you are, but how you got to that point and why you got to that point.
"So, having someone with car knowledge just makes a whole tonne of sense."
