A fourth-place finish in this year’s Formula E team’s championship was a good return for Nissan, but it could have been even better.
Sacha Fenestraz failed to match the performance levels of teammate Oliver Rowland throughout the season and wound up with 130 less points than his British counterpart.
A dismal second-half of the Formula E season, and a best finish of fifth contributed to a 17th placed finish in the championship, while Rowland came fourth.
It feels as if the Frenchman is a long way away from a successful 2022, where he was crowned vice-champion in Japanese Super Formula.
Why could Sacha Fenestraz could lose his Formula E seat
Formula E journalist Sam Smith has pointed out that things must improve on his side of the garage, but has also backed him to keep his seat for now.
“This is a guy who is only just 25 as well. Remember that there’s a seven-year age discrepancy between Rowland and Fenestraz,” he said on The Race’s Formula E season review podcast.
“If there’s any defending him, it’s probably that. But, he will be looking to keep his drive, which I think he will do for next season.
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“He needs some big results in the first three or four races, otherwise, if he gets stuck in that rut and Rowland is continuing to score big points, then he’s going to know it’s all over and the whole confidence thing unravels again.
“At least he’s got this off-season now to reassess things and to try and come back mentally stronger, because I think there was a mental frailty with Fenestraz this year.”
Can Nissan press on in 2025?
To be able to compete with the likes of the team championship winning Jaguar team and runner-up Porsche outfits, it is essential that Nissan have both drivers firing on all cylinders.
It’s part of the reason why Smith believes that Fenestraz has so few races to get a good result next season, with the tolerance for failing to turn up decreasing by the day.
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He will need to pay extra attention to and learn from his teammate Rowland if he wants to make a real push to improve, with the Brit and his 78 Formula E starts coming with bags of experience to benefit from.
Following 31 starts – including a pole position, there will now be the expectation that the Frenchman can begin to turn up on a regular basis and help his team to break into the top three.
After all, they were just 18 points short of that milestone in the 2023-24 season, and were let down only by his inconsistency.