"Something we need to discuss": Will Formula E world champion Oliver Rowland race with number 1 in season 12?

Since it was confirmed that Nissan will continue to race with the driver pairing of Oliver Rowland and Norman Nato in the 2025-26 Formula E season, the question has arisen: Will the world champion - like his predecessors Pascal Wehrlein, Jake Dennis and Stoffel Vandoorne - start his title defence with the prestigious number 1 on his car?

With a championship title in motorsport, the driver often also earns the honour of wearing the number 1 on his car in the following season. But whether we will actually see a Nissan with this number at the start of the Formula E season on 6 December in Sao Paulo is questionable - and the team and both drivers have good reasons for this.

Nissan has a special connection to Rowland's current starting number 23: in Japanese, the number 2 is pronounced "ni" and the 3 "san". A very obvious explanation as to why the manufacturer has attached great importance to this number in various racing series for many years.

"Number 23 is really important for Nissan"

Rowland himself has already asked Nissan team boss Tommaso Volpe for his opinion: "I actually texted Tommaso asking for his opinion, because obviously the number 23 is really important for Nissan, and special," Rowland describes in Motorsport Week. "He thought didn't usually take the number 1, but in the last five years, a lot of people took it, so I corrected him on that! And said we've got a bit of time to think about it."

Another consideration was to pass on the number 23, which is so important for Nissan, to team-mate Nato. But he also has an interest in holding on to his own number. It has a very special meaning for him: "Norman has a really strong tie to the number 17, which was obviously Jules' number," explains Rowland. Jules Bianchi, who died in 2014 as a result of an accident in a Formula 1 race, was a close friend of the Frenchman, whom he honours through "his" starting number.

"We need a number 23, whether it comes from me or the other car," however, Rowland also knows. "My gut feeling is I'd like to run the number 1 but it's something we need to discuss internally and decide. Right now, I’m not sure."

We will find out Nissan's decision in October at the latest. By then, the Formula E teams must have notified the FIA of their desired starting numbers for the coming season. Confirmation from the FIA will follow shortly afterwards. The official announcement will be made immediately before the start of pre-season testing, which will take place in Valencia from 27 to 31 October 2025.