Nissan goes into Formula E Season 12 with more cherry blossoms, Oliver Rowland with starting number 1

After a great performance by Oliver Rowland in Season 11, Nissan is allowed to provide the number 1 car in the 2025-26 Formula E World Championship. Rowland and Norman Nato will continue to race for the team under the direction of Tommaso Volpe. As with the personnel, the team is also focussing on consistency when it comes to the livery. So we will continue to see the red livery, decorated with cherry blossoms, in the coming season.

The changes are actually so minimal that you could say that the starting numbers are the biggest difference compared to last year. Reigning world champion Rowland will take over the number 1 from Pascal Wehrlein. Nato, on the other hand, will have Rowland's old number, 23, on the car. Perhaps the number will give him what he needs to fight for points in step with Rowland this year.

A pinch more cherry blossom

At first glance, the paintwork of the new Nissan e-4ORCE 05 is identical to that of the previous year. We can still expect a mostly red car, with striking white accents on the front wing and in the rear half. These white areas are decorated with a pattern of cherry blossoms. The halo system and rear-view mirrors, on the other hand, are in stark contrast to the rest of the car and remain black.

Only the outer panels at the rear are different. These now also feature the cherry blossom pattern, whereas last year they were plain red. No other changes are discernible. However, Nissan made this decision very consciously: they are very proud of their Japanese origins and the cherry blossoms associated with them. The livery has also been a fan favourite since its introduction in season 9.

Project: title defence

Winning the Formula World Drivers' Championship was the greatest success Rowland has achieved in his career. Accordingly, he is now clearly setting his sights on defending his title: "It's amazing to have the number 1 on my car and I believe that as a team we can defend the title. We want to adopt a similar mentality as what we did in Season 11, taking it race-by-race as we work hard to replicate and improve on our results, which I know we can."

His team-mate Nato, on the other hand, had a year to forget in season 11, but he was given another chance by the team and now wants to make the most of it: "We need to continue preparing for the season ahead and take advantage of all the effort we put in last year and during the off-season to fight for strong results from Round 1."

The pre-season tests in Valencia begin on 27 October, before the first round of the season takes place in Sao Paulo on 6 December. As one of the top favourites, Nissan will have to live up to high expectations.