Podium from midfield for Rowland & Cassidy in the Formula E chaos of Sao Paulo: "In contention for the win"

Oliver Rowland (Nissan) and Nick Cassidy (Citroen) made it onto the podium in a thrilling season opener in Sao Paulo. However, the day got off to a disappointing start for both drivers. After a mediocre qualifying session, they started from midfield. During the race, both drivers demonstrated strong pace and good efficiency.

Rowland went into the weekend with high expectations. After all, the aim was to defend his title this season. In qualifying for the Sao Paulo E-Prix, however, the reigning world champion was surprisingly eliminated in the group stage. It was only enough for 10th place, but the Briton still had a grid penalty from the last race of the previous season and therefore started from 13th place.

Rowland: "P5 or P6 was my actual goal"

In the race, he quickly worked his way forwards: "I didn't expect that from this grid position. Qualifying did not go as well as we expected. We drove efficiently at the start of the race. After that we were able to move up quickly. At one point in the race I even found myself in a position to win the race - then two laps later I was suddenly back in eighth. It was certainly good to watch from the outside", said Rowland in the press conference after the race.

"To be honest, P5 or P6 was my goal," Rowland continued. "We actually deserved 5th place. We were a bit lucky with the full-course yellow and the safety car towards the end. Some people actually had an advantage due to the Attack Mode. Nevertheless, we managed to stay in the fight and take home some good points. But we still need to work on our performance." He finished the race in second place.

Cassidy: "If we are clever, we can be strong"

Citroen's debut in the electric racing series went surprisingly well. New signing Nick Cassidy drove a strong race and stayed out of any incidents, which ultimately earned him third place. However, qualifying did not go as expected for him either, with 16th place on the grid: "After the hard work during the off-season, I had the feeling that things could look really good after the Valencia test and after practice here", said the New Zealander. "But then qualifying was a disaster. I was pretty disappointed"

He also showed a strong fighting spirit, worked his way forward and continued his podium streak from the end of last season: "I am happy to be able to come back like this in the race. To finish on the podium in the first race for Citroen is fantastic. If we qualify well in the coming races and make clever use of our opportunities, we can be strong, even if we still lack the efficiency of the others.

After the race, Cassidy was also available for a few words with e-Formula.news: "Up until the safety car, we had the perfect strategy. I could have overtaken Rowland in Attack Mode. Then the only question would have been whether Jake (Dennis) could have overtaken me back. We were fighting for victory. The safety car was perhaps not good for us, but on the other hand I can't complain about the podium. I think we have a good car and hope that there are more podiums in it."

Now there will be a few weeks of peace and quiet over the Christmas period before the second round of the Formula E World Championship is held in Mexico City. The teams will therefore have some time to prepare and focus fully on the next race. It will take place on 10 January 2026 at the famous Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.