"One of my strongest races this season" - Rowland wins 9 positions in Formula E in Monaco

Two drivers in the top 8: The Monaco E-Prix may not look as spectacular for Nissan on paper as Oliver Rowland's podium finishes from Sao Paulo to Misano, but it nevertheless speaks for a strong team result. Nissan worked their way forward after pace problems in qualifying and left Monaco with twelve points in their luggage.

Although race day did not start as difficult for the Japanese car manufacturer as it did for customer team McLaren, where substitute driver Taylor Barnard had to step in at short notice, Nissan did not escape unscathed either. "The right set-up of the car is very important here," explained team principal Volpe after the race. "The practice sessions were chaotic and we had a few problems with the tyres in qualifying." Jake Hughes also had the same problem in the McLaren.

"Our one-lap speed was not as good as in the last races," confirmed Rowland, who had always started from the top 10 in the three previous races. "We need to find out why that is and put it right for the next races." As a result, Rowland and Fenestraz only started from 14th and 15th place respectively.

In the race, it was clear after a few minutes: in order to achieve a good result, it was important to get through without any incidents. However, no restraint was exercised: Rowland made up a whole nine positions - and thus drew level with Norman Nato in terms of the best catch-up of the race. There were some spectacular overtakes and battles for position - including at the end of the race with Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa for sixth place. The Nissan driver came out on top.

"Looking at the race, I'm very happy with our performance. That was one of my strongest races of the season," said Rowland. "We had a solid pace and kept away from any accidents. We also worked really well as a team. Sacha was by my side the whole time as we battled our way through the field - that was a big plus. We're still developing, but the results have been strong recently. Now we just need to keep our confidence up."

With a strong race, Rowland scored eight points and closed the gap to Jake Dennis in the overall standings to one point. The fourth-placed driver is also only 14 points behind championship leader Pascal Wehrlein.

The team effort was formidable ??@Nissan #NissanFormulaE #MonacoEPrix #FeelElectric pic.twitter.com/7HxMi5R9Nd

- Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) April 29, 2024

Fenestraz: "Hopefully we can continue this trend"

Teammate Sacha Fenestraz had started one position ahead of the Briton and showed a similarly strong race. He made it into the top 10 and stayed behind his team-mate for a few laps. As a result, the standings looked very clear at times: Two Jaguars ahead of two DS Penske cars, ahead of two Porsches, ahead of two Nissans. In the final phase, however, he was unable to keep up with Rowland and was instead involved in position battles with Maximilian Günther. In the end, the youngster finished eighth - six positions ahead of his grid position.

"It's very good that both Oli and I finished in the points after a difficult qualifying session. We were able to help each other and work well together as a team. So it was a positive race overall," says Fenestraz.

Although overshadowed by his team-mate, Fenestraz has gradually arrived in the tenth Formula E season after a difficult start to the season and has now scored points in three consecutive races. "Hopefully we can continue this trend and get a podium for me! We are getting stronger and stronger as a team. The car is running well, but we have to keep pushing in Berlin and keep developing." The "double-header" in the German capital will take place in just over a week's time from 10 to 12 May.