YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Formula E Team is all set for Round 5 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship this weekend, as the series returns to Miami for the first time since its inaugural season.

The Japanese outfit has enjoyed a successful Season 11 to date, with Oliver Rowland taking two wins in four races to lead the drivers’ standings, helping Nissan top both the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Championships.

Meanwhile, Norman Nato will be looking to continue his streak of scoring points in the United States, having finished in the top-10 in both New York and Portland on all his previous trips across the Atlantic Ocean in Formula E.

Homestead-Miami Speedway has played host to every major North American motorsport series and now becomes Formula E’s latest US race location. The original technical infield road course will challenge the drivers with high-speed sections and the best overtaking opportunities are set to be into Turns 1, 6 and 8 in what promises to be an exciting return to the Sunshine State.

Formula E’s trip to the USA is an important one for the team, with the country being Nissan’s biggest market worldwide. The manufacturer has been in operation in the USA since 1960, with its current headquarters based in Franklin, Tennessee.

Track action begins on Friday at 16:30 (UTC-4), with qualifying at 09:40 on Saturday ahead of the race at 14:00.

Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: “We’re proud to arrive in such a key market for Nissan while leading all three championships, and we have been working hard during the break to give ourselves the best chance to maintain our position. We know we’ve still got some fine tuning to do, which we’ve being focusing on during the break; now it’s time to put it all together on track and make sure we extract the best of the new directions we found. It’s always interesting to race in new circuits, as we often do in Formula E. However, there are also many unknowns that come with it, so we’ve been doing a lot of pre-simulation and simulation work to identify the key challenges and what will make the difference in terms of performance. We’re expecting a peloton-style race and we know we have good pace, so we have to be ambitious and will be targeting a strong result.”

Oliver Rowland, driver, Nissan Formula E Team: “I’ve had a good break, been away and done some driver coaching, so I’ve kept myself busy and now feeling ready to go again. Nothing’s different on our side despite the excellent start to the season – I have my goals for each race which don’t change. I’m in a good place mentally and we’ve been preparing well for this event. A new track is always exciting, it’s a long lap so getting up to speed quickly will be important. The race strategy should suit my style with the energy saving, so I’m looking forward to being out there.”

Norman Nato, driver, Nissan Formula E Team: “I’ve had a quiet and chilled time off, it was a busy pre-season with the opening round in December and settling back in with the team, so it felt good to have a proper break. I’ve been with my family, training and resting and now I’m ready to go flat out until the end of the campaign. For Miami, a new track is always an opportunity to perform strongly. Nobody has reference points from previous years, so it will be important to hit the ground running in Free Practice. We’re expecting a strategic race, and we’re trying to understand the best approach possible ahead of the weekend.”

Sérgio Sette Câmara, reserve and simulator driver, Nissan Formula E Team: “The time spent on the simulator is so crucial in Formula E, especially at a new track, because of how complex the cars are. From my experiences in the sim, this is one of the trickiest circuits I’ve driven during my time in the championship due to its high-speed nature. It’ll produce some great racing with wide sections of the track, and I think there will be a lot of important strategy calls and swapping of positions, which I can’t wait to see live.”

Oliver Rowland and the returning Norman Nato both got on track in the new GEN3 Evo cars, which will feature for the next two seasons, while on Friday afternoon, Alpine Academy driver Abbi Pulling took part in the all-women test session.

Both Rowland and Nato took to the circuit with a focus on understanding the new aspects of the Nissan e-4ORCE 05 vehicles, such as the upgraded Hankook tires and the All-Wheel Drive system.

Thursday afternoon gave teams the chance to trial the new Pit Boost feature set to be introduced for Season 11, which will provide a 10% energy increase to the race cars through a quick 30-second 600kW charge in the pitlane, enabling drivers to subsequently activate Attack Mode afterwards.

The last session of the test on Friday morning resulted in both finishing in the top-10, with Rowland in sixth and Nato in 10th. Overall, across the official testing days, the Brit netted seventh while on the other side of the garage, the Frenchman was 12th on the timesheets. The duo gained plenty of useful data and information throughout the week, totaling a combined 389 laps between them.

Friday afternoon saw the much-anticipated all-women’s test session, with Alpine Academy member Abbi Pulling taking to the track. The F1 Academy championship leader was on the pace immediately, setting positive lap times throughout and finishing top of the timesheets at the end of the three-hour session.

Season 11 begins in São Paulo on December 7, 2024, with the campaign also set to feature a double-header in the teams’ home race in Japan, when the Tokyo E-Prix takes place over the weekend of May 17-18, 2025. The full calendar can be found here.

Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: “It’s been a week of learning the new GEN3 Evo technology and we’ve collected a huge amount of data. The All-Wheel Drive system and new tires have made the biggest difference, so this will be a learning curve for all teams in the build up to São Paulo. It was also great to try out the Pit Boost on Thursday and we’re confident it will bring an extra dimension to the championship.

“On the drivers’ side, Norman settled into the team really well and Oli’s getting back up to speed strongly as we look to continue from where we left off in London. It was also great to have Abbi taking part in the all-women’s test session. She was very professional and performed fantastically in the car to top the timesheets. We’re very pleased with our work this week and it sets a great platform to further improve before heading to Brazil.

“Finally, our thoughts remain with the people of Valencia after the tragic floods last week.”

Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team driver: “It was a valuable week for us, helping to understand the new GEN3 Evo cars as well as the new powertrain and tires. The tires are tricky to get into the correct window, but once you’re there they bring a lot more grip on one lap and should be interesting during the races. We’ve collected a lot of data throughout the sessions and now need to work on analyzing this to maximize our performance in São Paulo.”

Norman Nato, Nissan Formula E Team driver: “The final objective of these test sessions is to ensure we have the correct set-up going into the opening round. I feel strong in the 300kW mode, which is encouraging, and we’ll continue to work on the performance once the power is turned up. Now it’s all about understanding what we learned this week and preparing for a strong event in São Paulo next month.”

Abbi Pulling: “It was a really exciting session, and felt amazing to put what I’ve learned in the simulator into real life and to experience the thrill of driving a Nissan Formula E car. The lap times were strong which is very pleasing, I think there was more time to extract at the peak of the tire, but overall I’m happy with the performance. The whole team was great, explaining everything to me and answering any questions I had, so a big thanks to them. I’m delighted to have helped Nissan Formula E Team in the build up to the new season and I hope to have another opportunity to drive the car in the future!”

London, 28th July 2023: The Nissan Formula E Team has transformed a central London landmark into a giant moving racing helmet to celebrate this weekend’s finale of the Formula E championship.

The innovative motion video mapping projection at 110 The Queen’s Walk Building, featuring Nissan’s race livery colours, is designed to give the illusion that the helmet is racing. The exciting spectacle is part of Nissan’s wider Feel Electric Festival, taking place in Covent Garden, and marks the arrival of the Nissan Formula E Team to the city, ahead of the final 2 rounds at ExCel London.

Nic Thomas, Marketing Director at Nissan Motor GB, said: “The Feel Electric Festival is designed to bring the excitement of Formula E to life ahead of this weekend’s races.

“The projection on the 110 The Queen’s Walk Building is a very high profile visual spectacle that combines art, technology and motorsport with the Nissan Formula E Team. We want it to captivate people and inspire them to find out more about this fantastic sport.”

The stunt was created by Dark Horses and Nissan Motor GB, in partnership with Grand Visual and Pixel Artworks with media bought by TBWALondon.

The 110 The Queen’s Walk Building, was chosen because of its uncanny resemblance to a racing helmet. Although there have been previous projections on the side of the building, this was the first time the front of the building has been projected on, incorporating its structure as part of the stunt, giving a dramatic impact and mesmerizing the audience. 

The projection was also the culmination of Nissan’s ‘Feel Electric Festival’ taking place in the busy social hub of London’s Covent Garden, which is being executed by Fusion 2K. A unique Cherry Blossom Garden has been set up around the Nissan Formula E lab where people are invited to put their driving skills to the test with racing simulators. People also have the opportunity to grab a photo with digital versions of both Nissan Formula-E racing drivers, Sacha Fenestraz and Norman Nato. 

Outside in the stunning Cherry Blossom Garden people can relax and sample limited edition Sakura sushi and complimentary drinks whilst watching the racing live. And for the final surprise of the festival, on Friday and Saturday evening people will be treated to an immersive Japanese dance and music performance, inspired by the spirit of Kabuki.

Dark Horses has also created some digital OOH and print work for the festival which will be prominent on the London Tube and the Metro newspaper. 

Steve Howell, Chief Creative Officer at Dark Horses, said: “For the final race of the season, we wanted to create a stake in the ground moment that really showcased Nissan Formula E taking over the city. And there was no bigger stake we could find than transforming one of London’s most iconic buildings into a 150 feet tall Nissan race helmet.”