Norman Nato will race for Nissan in the 2024-25 Formula E season and rejoin the team he was sidelined by last year in favour of his now-team-mate Oliver Rowland.
The move follows a convoluted saga in which Nissan debated for weeks whether it would keep Sacha Fenestraz for a third season.
The Race revealed earlier this month that Nato was the favourite to land the Nissan seat once again after Fenestraz was told in August that he would be leaving.
Fevered negotiations between Nissan and Nato's manager Tiago Monteiro have been taking place since the London E-Prix in July, although this was broken up by a period when it appeared that Fenestraz would get a stay of execution at the team.
2 Seasons, 32 races, and a million memories. @sachafenestraz thank you for your hard work and ever positive attitude, we wish you all the best in the future 🫶@Nissan #NissanFormulaE #FeelElectric pic.twitter.com/MGQ0HO7erq
— Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) September 11, 2024
But in August, Fenestraz was notified about his release from a contract that had a guaranteed two seasons and a third as an option dependent on performance-related criteria.
After the Franco-Argentinian struggled last season to match new team-mate Rowland, scoring just 26 points to Rowland’s 156, Nissan eventually decided to act.
Nissan motorsport chief Tommaso Volpe called Fenestraz "a fundamental part of the establishment and development" of the team and thanked him "for his hard work and his ever-positive attitude".
The final two events of the 2024 season at Portland and in London were critical for Fenestraz but in each of the two double-headers he made mistakes and collected no points.
Portland was especially damaging. After making a mistake and crashing in free practice, Fenestraz struggled in qualifying and was outqualified by stand-in debutant team-mate Caio Collet - who was a last minute sub for an ill Rowland.
The London finale should have brought Fenestraz his first points for several races but, ironically, he pitched Nato into the barriers - causing a safety car and gaining a five-second penalty that bumped him from sixth to 14th in the final classification.
London appears to have been a genuine final chance for Fenestraz to get a third season with Nissan but a re-evaluation of the team's position took place afterwards and concluded that a change was needed.
Outgoing Andretti driver Nato's return, while not a complete surprise considering the late nature of the change and his familiarity with the team after a decent 2023 season that included a podium in Rome, should be viewed as temporary.
It is likely that another one-year deal has been agreed before Nissan looks at the likes of Antonio Felix da Costa or possibly Mitch Evans for the following 2025-26 campaign. Then, in the year when Gen4 development will begin for manufacturers, Nissan will aim to build what it will internally covet as a superteam to consistently challenge for titles.
Nato on second Nissan opportunity
Speaking to The Race, Nato said that returning to Nissan was "a really exciting challenge" because it felt like "we didn't finish what we started, the team has obviously grown so I can't wait to get back to work with all of them".
Nato left Nissan on good terms considering that he had to vacate his position for Rowland despite having outscored Fenestraz by 63 points to 32 in their one season together in 2023.
"It made sense to work together again with Nissan as I know the car, systems, people inside of the team so obviously it's some time, performance you're not chasing when having a new driver or team," added Nato.
"I'm confident we can perform straight from the beginning, that's the goal.
"It will be interesting to compare my experience with Andretti/Porsche in 2024 with what has changed at Nissan since I left.
"I think it could be a really nice story about what's happening with Nissan. We will see what the next chapter is about."
But Nissan will need a third driver in 2025
Nato is highly likely to again engage in a dual racing programme in 2025 but, unlike in 2024 when his Andretti Formula E deal took precedence over his sportscar commitments, this time he looks set to miss the Berlin FE races next July.
That's because he is believed to already have another deal to race in the World Endurance Championship, which he has done ever since a concurrent Venturi Formula E and RealTeam LMP2 WEC programme in 2021.
Although Nato would not discuss with The Race his sportscar plans for next season, it is widely speculated in the WEC paddock that he will be one of the six drivers that will race for the Jota squad that will run the factory Cadillac Hypercars next season.
The late nature of the Nissan deal is likely to have meant a first come, first served nature to Nato's racing in 2025, meaning that Nissan will need to find a replacement driver to race in Berlin due to the clash.
The Race understands that speculation Formula E may change the Berlin races to avoid a clash with the WEC's Interlagos 6 Hours in a slightly modified final calendar are wide of the mark and that the Tempelhof races will take place as planned in early July.
It is likely that detailed talks took place between the Nato camp and both Nissan and his WEC team to try to get a solution to his dual programme and what it might mean for priority in the event of the anticipated fixture clash next July.
With that now seemingly agreed, Nato can concentrate on assisting the development of the Nissan Gen3 Evo package which has already started its performance testing in the hands of Rowland and recently new McLaren signing Taylor Barnard at Varano in Italy.
Nissan has several options to replace Nato at Berlin next July, including plugging in Collet again as he is expected to stay on as a reserve driver for Nissan and possibly also its customer McLaren.
Additionally, Nissan is expected to try out some Alpine Academy drivers in the coming months, including Abbi Pulling, Sophia Floersch and potentially also Victor Martins, the latter having already tested several times with the team.
