Nissan Formula E Team’s strong strategy goes unrewarded in Sanya

Rowland and Nato unable to score points due to race-ending incidents

Nissan Formula E Team had a frustrating event in Round 11 of the 2025/26 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Sanya, China, with a great team strategy being compromised by incidents and preventing both drivers from scoring points.

On Formula E’s first visit to the island of Hainan since 2019, extreme heat and humidity throughout the event challenged the Japanese squad as it looked to build on its recent positive results.

In two tightly-fought qualifying groups, neither driver was able to make it through the Duels, with Oliver Rowland starting 10th on the grid and Norman Nato 16th. After a positive launch off the line for both drivers, the team employed a strategy to save energy for the first half of the race, to allow themselves to attack later on.

Following a red flag stoppage midway through the E-Prix, Rowland and Nato made use of their extra energy, and with the help of Attack Mode, quickly moved up the order. British driver Rowland took the lead within minutes of the restart, and Nato worked his way into the top four.

Unfortunately, Nato was hit by another driver from behind, sending the Frenchman into the wall and ending what was a very promising race. A few laps later and while battling towards the front, Rowland’s day also came to an early end after an unfortunate mistake caused him to hit the wall.

Formula E returns on 3-5 July for Rounds 12 and 13, the remaining two of Season 12’s three races in China, when the teams will take on a double-header at Shanghai International Circuit.

Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: “It’s frustrating to be leaving Sanya without points as the team put both Oli and Norman on the perfect strategies to achieve very good results. We didn’t quite have the pace today, and that showed in qualifying; but we knew we could fight back during the race and that’s what we did. Both drivers were set to score solid points - Norman was up into the top four but unfortunately an incident out of his control ended his race, while Oli made a very rare but costly mistake which brought his E-Prix to an end as well. Despite the result, the team did a great job and we can definitely take positives. We are happy to have the opportunity to come back to China again soon for the upcoming double-header in Shanghai, which will be an important event as we get closer to the end of the season.”