Nissan Formula E Team enters this weekend’s Monaco double-header chasing a second consecutive Monte-Carlo victory after Oliver Rowland’s first-race win and pole position at the 3.337-kilometer circuit one year ago. The squad arrives at Rounds 9 and 10 of the 2025/26 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship carrying momentum from Berlin, where Rowland scored his fourth and fifth podiums of the season and team-mate Norman Nato added a fifth-place finish. The Yokohama-based outfit has rebuilt its season after a difficult Miami round earlier this winter, with the Berlin result marking the most consistent two-car points haul of the campaign.
Highlights
- Rowland has secured five podiums in Season 12, including a first-race victory and pole position at Monaco one year ago
- Saturday’s race uses the Pit Boost format with a single Attack Mode activation; Sunday returns to the standard two-activation format with no mandatory stop
- Circuit de Monaco measures 3.337 kilometers across 19 corners, with the layout largely unchanged since its 1929 debut
- Nato races within 50 kilometers of his Cannes birthplace and has prior Monaco wins in Formula Renault 3.5 (2014) and a GP2 podium (2016)
Building on Berlin
Rowland’s Berlin weekend extended a podium streak that began with consecutive top-three finishes at the São Paulo and Mexico City season-openers. Nato’s Sunday recovery in Berlin marked his first clean two-driver points return of the season alongside his team-mate, the kind of result the team needs to climb back into manufacturer-championship contention against tighter GEN3 Evo competition.
“We’re feeling positive after a great weekend in Berlin, where we achieved what we set out to do,” said Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team. “However, the turnaround between races is tight, so we must stay focused and efficient with our preparation. We have great memories in Monte-Carlo from Season 11 and there is always extra motivation to win at such a special and famous circuit. As we head to Monaco, our main objective is to build momentum and continue to produce more consistent performances to maximize our potential.”
Monaco Format and Track Demands
The two-day event runs two different race formats. Saturday’s race uses the Pit Boost — a mandatory in-race energy top-up — with drivers limited to a single Attack Mode activation. Sunday returns to the more familiar format: no mandatory pit stop, two Attack Mode activations per driver, and a heavier emphasis on energy management across the full distance.
Circuit de Monaco’s layout has been largely preserved since 1929, threading 19 corners across 3.337 kilometers of public streets that include Casino Square, the Grand Hotel Hairpin and the Nouvelle Chicane. The unforgiving barriers and limited overtaking zones make qualifying position decisive. Saturday’s track action begins with Free Practice 1 at 07:30 local time (UTC+2); qualifying runs at 10:40 and the E-Prix follows at 15:05, with Sunday repeating the schedule.
Driver Outlook
Rowland enters the weekend looking to translate one-lap pace into another front-row start. “Berlin was a good weekend for the team as we achieved our objectives and executed the races well,” he said. “I now feel more confident over one lap, which is something I’m looking to carry forward into this event. Monaco is a circuit that I’ve always enjoyed as it’s a complex lap with some brilliant corners, particularly through the swimming pool section. We were strong there last season, which is a positive, but we know since then the field has got closer. We’ll aim to keep on improving over one lap and build on our recent performances.”
Nato, who was born in Cannes roughly 50 kilometers from the principality, treats Monaco as a home race. “I was pleased with the execution of the second E-Prix in Berlin. We managed our tires and energy well as we moved forward at the right time,” he said. “Monaco is always a special weekend for me as it’s like a home race. I’ve been successful there in multiple other series in the past, so the goal is to add Formula E to that list this weekend.”
Reserve and development driver Sam Bird flagged grid position as the weekend’s defining variable. “Qualifying is always important as Monaco isn’t traditionally a race that you can win from the back of the grid, so you’ll want to be starting on the front three rows,” he said.
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