Formula E
July 22, 2025
5 min Reading
Japanese outfit celebrates global launch of the new Nissan LEAF at season finale
Nissan Formula E Team is ready to take on the Excel London Circuit in Rounds 15 & 16 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with its sights firmly set on fighting for the manufacturers’ and teams’ titles. The squad currently sits second in both standings heading into the last two events of Season 11, but is determined to add to its recent success, after Oliver Rowland won the Drivers’ World Championship last time out in Berlin.
For this weekend’s racing, Nissan Formula E Team will showcase a special teal blue edition of its iconic cherry blossom livery, to celebrate the launch of the all-new, UK-manufactured, Nissan LEAF. A true, third-generation electric vehicle, the LEAF is built upon data and expertise collected since the debut of the pioneering first model in 2010, which was the world’s first mass market electric and zero-emission vehicle. The knowledge from the close to 700,000 units sold in the last 15 years has helped to create a family-friendly EV with sleek and bold looks throughout.
Nissan Formula E Team’s last visit to London in 2024 was a successful one. Oliver Rowland produced an excellent drive, coming through the field from ninth on the grid to take a special victory in front of his home fans. On the other side of the garage, Norman Nato returns to the cockpit of the #17 Nissan e-4ORCE 05 aiming to build on his strong track record at the Excel London Circuit, which has seen the Frenchman score points in three out of the last four races held there.
The 2.09-kilometer track is the only semi-indoor track on the Formula E calendar, weaving through the Excel London exhibition center, and around the Royal Victoria Docks. The narrow circuit makes overtaking difficult, meaning qualifying will be even more important than at most Formula E venues. The best chances to gain positions will be into Turn 1, as well as in the outside section into the Turn 10-11 chicane, before coming back inside at Turn 16.
On-track action gets underway with Free Practice at 16:00 (UTC+1) local time on Friday, with qualifying taking place at 12:20 and lights out at 17:00 on both Saturday and Sunday.
Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: “We’re pleased to arrive in London having already won the drivers’ title and in strong contention for the other two championships, which was one of our targets for this season. We’re also happy to welcome Norman back after he missed the last round. We have great memories at this track, having won the last race here with Oliver. Both he and Norman have done well at this circuit in the past and, with Oli already World Champion, we can be aggressive and put our full focus on securing maximum points for the team. The gaps won’t be easy to overturn, but I have full confidence in our engineers and drivers, and we’re ready to give it our all to come out on top.”
“I really like the London circuit, even though I have not been too successful here until last season. We’ve been racing at this track for many years, so everyone is familiar with it. It’s a fun circuit to drive and we know what’s required from the car in terms of energy management. Part of the circuit has been resurfaced, which will hopefully give us more grip. I’m expecting the races to be tough physically, with overtaking set to be difficult. Pit Boost and Attack Mode strategies will be crucial to gaining positions. I’m feeling relaxed after winning the drivers’ title in Berlin, but we still have the teams’ and manufacturers’ championships to fight for, so we’ll go all in this weekend and enjoy these last two races.”
“I’m really excited to head back to London. I enjoy the challenge of the track, it’s got the classic Formula E feel and it’s tough to put a lap together with the change of grip from indoor to outdoor. It makes the set-up of the car a bit more difficult, especially if there is rain. I’m confident we can have a strong final weekend of the season. The aim is clear - we want to win the teams’ and manufacturers’ titles and we’ll do our best to make that happen.”
“London is so different to any other track we have on the Formula E calendar and it’s one of my favorite circuits. The most obvious difference is the semi-indoor layout. It takes a few laps to get used to driving inside, but it’s a really cool feature! The layout is similar to Tokyo, it’s very narrow and twisty, which makes overtaking difficult. With Attack Mode now more powerful than in previous visits here thanks to the All-Wheel Drive, it will mean that a mixture of qualifying well and a good strategy will be crucial for scoring a strong result.”
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