Nissan Formula E Team secures pole position and double points finish in Miami

Both drivers show superb pace, with Nato denied win by post-race penalty

Nissan Formula E Team earned its maiden pole position of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship during Round 5 with Norman Nato, as the Frenchman crossed the line first but missed out on victory due to a post-race penalty.

In qualifying, Nato advanced into the duels and fought his way through to the final, where he produced a stunning lap to take his first-ever Julius Baer Pole Position trophy. Teammate Oliver Rowland missed out on the top four in a tightly contested Group A, starting the event from P16.

As the race got underway in the Sunshine State, Nato held the lead off the line and remained competitive, constantly battling in the top five, as Rowland saved energy while advancing through the field.

On Lap 22, there was a red flag as Nato sat in sixth and Rowland 11th, with both having six minutes of Attack Mode left to use. At the standing restart, the drivers immediately took the additional 50kW of power as they made several overtakes, meaning Nato crossed the line first while Rowland finished fourth.

However, both drivers were unable to complete their Attack Mode due to the unfortunate timing of the red flag which impacted their strategies, meaning they received post-race ten second time penalties. Once applied Nato ended up in sixth and Rowland in 10th, still ensuring a double points finish for the squad.

Formula E gets back underway on 3-4 May with the first ever double-header around the streets of Monte-Carlo.

Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: “It was a weekend filled with ups and downs, especially with Norman taking the win on track but classifying in P6 due to the penalty. The red flag came at the worst possible time for our strategy and eventually cost us a lot of points. Despite this, we’re delighted to see Norman’s strong performance taking his first-ever pole position as well as a solid haul of points during the race. Oli’s event didn’t get off to the best start; he missed a lot of FP1 due to a technical issue which we would have seen easily during shakedown, but this was unfortunately cancelled due to the rain. He then didn’t have a good qualifying, but even with this he was on his way to an excellent recovery result finishing in P4 before the post-race penalty relegated him to P10. Overall it was not a smooth weekend, but we know we have what it takes and are happy to still lead both the Drivers’ and the Manufacturers’ Standings. We leave Miami cautious but confident, and more determined than ever to keep fighting for all three championships until the end.”