Norman Nato confirmed to Motorsport Week that Nissan will appeal his five-second time penalty from the opening race of the London E-Prix double-header.
Nato had been enjoying a brilliant race in the British capital, with the Frenchman having elevated himself from 10th on the grid to fourth. The Nissan Formula E Team driver found himself behind Sébastian Buemi in the closing stages of the race, in a battle for the final podium place.
Buemi’s pace had been better than Nato’s; however, the Envision Racing driver was forced to drive incredibly slower in order to use his entire Attack Mode. With just three laps remaining, Buemi activated his final six minutes of Attack Mode, something he wouldn’t have fully served without a late red flag.
A second red flag in the chaotic race was caused following a collision between Nato and Buemi at the penultimate corner, which caused a pile-up. The 14-car pile-up caused a complete blockage of the circuit, although it did allow Buemi to use his entire Attack Mode before the race concluded.
Buemi knew that he’d receive a penalty if he finished the race whilst still using Attack Mode, which would’ve seen him lose his first podium of the Gen3 era. He was defending all over the circuit, something which resulted in Nato pulling off a late divebomb on the Swiss driver.
Contact was made though, as Buemi turned into Nato, causing the start of the blockage of the circuit. Both drivers waved their arms at each other in their cockpits, but it was Nato who was slapped with a five-second time penalty.
By the end of the race, this demoted him to ninth; however, he confirmed that the team will appeal the decision.
“Yeah. We are trying,” Nato told Motorsport Week.
“I don’t know all the situation because I didn’t finish on the podium, so it’s good for him, otherwise he would have finished top 10.”
Nato went on to explain what happened from his view, and insisted that Buemi “kept turning” after seeing him on his inside.
“When he saw that I was next to him, he kept turning, so he was back on me,” Nato explained.
“Our two wheels got stuck and we went straight. For me, it was pretty clear that at least in my case, I didn’t do anything wrong. My two attack mode, I was in a good position to finish the race and at the end I didn’t want to get penalised. I don’t know what to say.”
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