In the first of an exclusive two-part interview with Motorsport Week, Nissan’s FIA Formula E Team Principal Tommaso Volpe gives his views on Season 10, the redemption of Oliver Rowland’s career as well as the controversial removal of Sacha Fenestraz from its driver line-up.
It is fair to say that Nissan exceeded expectations in FE Season 10. Viewed by many within the team as year of preparation for a full-on assault on the title in Season 11, the team, headed by Oliver Rowland, surprised many, with an impressive fourth place in the Teams’ Championship, and a commendable fourth for Rowland in the Drivers’.
Volpe explained that, whilst the goalposts were not particularly moved in terms of the targets it set at the start of the season, there was definitely an air of surprise permeating through the team’s French HQ once the car’s form began to show.
“Well, it’s funny because at the beginning of the season we were definitely targeting something,” he said.
“We knew we would have been better than the previous season, but we were targeting P4, P5 in the championship, but fighting for it, let’s say.
“So in a way we were surprised during the season when we started to be very consistent quite early on. After three races we started to be consistent in having good results. So at some point, as you can imagine, we started thinking differently and we were targeting top three positions.
“We’d been second at some point in the championship and so we were targeting to finish P3 at least. Then, of course, Oliver missing two races in Portland, Sacha not finding his best form during the season.
“At the end of the day, he ended up with a final result, fourth in the championship, so I would say that if I look at what was the objective at the beginning of the season, we achieved, even overachieved.
“But we were a little bit with this bittersweet taste at the end of the season because we were aware that we could have done a little bit more even, but it’s OK – we definitely achieved our targets.”
The aforementioned absence of Rowland in Portland was the notable cause of the bittersweetness,, because, as Volpe explained, the weekend was one where the infamous peloton style of racing, seen a lot of Season 10, was in evidence, and the hectic and highly-competitive nature of those races were ones in which Rowland had often excelled.
“The thing is that it’s not just missing two races where you never know what happens, it’s missing those two races. I mean, these peloton races where Oliver has been always strong and so I think that he had the chance to score strong points in those two races, and so both the team and the driver’s championship could have been even better.
“Let’s also be honest, we missed the victory in Italy [in which Rowland ran out of energy on the final lap whilst in the lead] because of a mistake we made in the car setup at the beginning of the race, so it’s also our fault if we haven’t achieved the best we could have this season.
“But I would say it’s part of the improvement that I mentioned before, the team has improved massively in Season 10 compared to Season 9, and we still have room for improvement, avoiding these kinds of mistakes or being more careful also probably from Oliver’s side with his own health, and you know, everything matters in such a complex sport.”
‘Never any doubts’ in Rowland amid redemption arc
Rowland was without doubt, one of the revelations of the season. After leaving Mahindra midway through Season 9, the longevity of his Formula E career had a dark cloud hanging over it.
But instead of allowing it to rain upon him, Rowland took the opportunity Nissan handed to him by re-signing with the team he knew so well, and made hay whilst the sun shone. He took two race wins in total, and performed with a level of consistency only matched by his title rivals. His form won him plaudits from many across the grid, including Motorsport Week, which named him the Formula E Driver of the Year.
Volpe reveals he never had any doubts about his ability to bounce back and reveals his experience helped the team to reach the heights that it reached in S10.
“In fact, it’s funny every time I kind of look back on what happened in those periods. I’m always surprised by how this decision looked outside and how it was from inside.
“We Oliver very well since the very beginning and if you look at the data, already after the first season, he was out-performing Sebastian Buemi, someone who won the championship and knows Formula E upside down probably more if not at the level of any other top driver. So we knew that Oliver was a top driver for Formula E.
“And the reason why he stopped racing for Nissan and e.DAMS at that time is because we couldn’t find an agreement, not at all because we were not believing that he could have been a top driver with us.
“The evidence is that as soon as there were the conditions, it became super easy to agree on his comeback because the relationship has always been very good, so I knew personally that he could have achieved great things.
“And I have no doubt that he could have brought experience to the team, helped the team to grow, not just with his performance on track but also with his experience, and to be an overall better team, not just having a strong driver on track.
“I understand why some people were doubting about it, because of his season in Mahindra was not maybe exceptional and his state of form maybe was not at the top, but we never had any doubt.
“The only doubt we had was how fast he would feel comfortable in the car because the fact was that for six months he didn’t race, and with this big change with GEN3 compared to GEN3. So definitely we had the doubt how fast he could have adapted to the car in our team.
“And on this aspect it surprised us for sure how fast he was but we had no doubt at all that he could have been our top driver already in Season 10.”
Replacing Fenestraz ‘not an easy decision’
For Season 11, Rowland will be partnered by former Nissan man Norman Nato, who returns to the Japanese marque after a season with Andretti.
Sacha Fenestraz was with the alongside Nato and then Rowland for Seasons 9 and 10, and despite a lack of development and some poor form across the season, looked set to stay.
But at the 11th hour, the Argentinian was replaced by Nato, in a move which shocked and upset a significant portion of the FE fanbase, with whom Fenestraz is a popular figure.
Volpe said that the lateness of the announcement did not come as a consequence of indecision, rather than a thorough analysis of the situation, and the team concluded that the experience of Nato was the driving factor once the Frenchman became a free agent.
“I cannot disclose too many details, but in short it was not an easy decision for sure because we invested in Sacha and we still believe Sacha is a very strong talent, and he can be very strong.
“But unfortunately somehow he couldn’t find his best form in Season 10. At the end of the season we looked at the data, we tried to understand, we talked to him and it was still a valid option. I mean we don’t say that we discarded Sacha because we thought that there was no hope at all, it was still a valid option, but then at some point, we had to evaluate all the options we had in front of us available, and we thought that a driver like Norman, who has already been on podium three times – once with us by the way – and one win as well as experience in development as well, not just in racing, could fit better to our ambition for Season 10.
“So that’s why we decided. And the timing of it doesn’t hide any specific event or specific turnover as I could see in the press.
“It’s just that we took our time to analyse all these factors and to take the best decision, what we believe is the best decision.”
In part two, Volpe talks about the GEN3 Evo car, pre-season testing and Nissan’s long-term commitment to Formula E.
