Sacha Fenestraz will be replaced at Nissan for the 2024-25 Formula E season, despite being odds on as recently as last month to keep his place for the final season of his three-year deal.
The apparent change of strategy by Nissan is expected to be confirmed shortly, meaning that Fenestraz’s two-year stay with the team will be over after a disappointing 2024 season in which he was overshadowed and comprehensively outscored by team-mate Oliver Rowland.
Rowland was fourth in the championship despite missing two races through illness, while Fenestraz was 17th.
This decision could now allow former Nissan driver Norman Nato back into the team for a season. Nato, who was released by Andretti after the 2024 season, is believed to be the favourite for the drive now.
The Race understands that Fenestraz was notified about the decision to terminate his contract in mid-August.
He has since entered into negotiations with both the ERT and Abt Lola teams about securing a drive for next season.
Success there looks unlikely though, with Abt pursuing an as-yet-undisclosed rookie driver to partner Lucas di Grassi and ERT favouring sticking with its line-up of Dan Ticktum and Sergio Sette Camara for a third continuous season together.
That could prompt Fenestraz to return to Japan, where he raced between 2019 and 2022, finishing runner-up in Super Formula in 2022.
He also secured his first deal in Formula E during this spell, occupying a reserve driver role at Jaguar, and then made a single start for the Dragon Penske team before signing for Nissan.
Nissan's confirmation of its 2024-25 line-up is expected imminently.
Who else is in contention for the seat?
There appears to be four clear names in the frame to replace Fenestraz and race alongside Rowland next season.
The first is Nato, who partnered Fenestraz at Nissan in 2022-23.
He outscored Fenestraz by 63 points to 32 in that campaign after a strong end to the season that included a second place at the Rome E-Prix. But by that time Nato had been told his deal would not be renewed and that he would be replaced by Rowland.
The Race understands that, despite the disappointment of leaving Nissan after a single season, both Nato and his manager Tiago Monteiro maintained good relations with Nissan team principal Tommaso Volpe and that talks about a return took place at the London E-Prix.
The complication for Nato is that he is believed to have signed a long-term deal with the Jota World Endurance Championship squad, meaning those commitments will be a priority now that the team is centred more around a manufacturer - Cadillac.
This will be keeping Monteiro busy as he tries to find a way of juggling the potential dual programme effectively for Nato. The Berlin Formula E and Interlagos WEC rounds next July are set to clash despite FE's apparent calendar fluidity.
The decision to replace Fenestraz appears to have come after great debate in the post-London E-Prix period as it was known that he would be given the entire 2024 season to stake a claim to be backed by his employer.
With no points scored across the London double-header, which included a shunt with former team-mate Nato, it appears that Nissan's senior management team slowly lost patience.
Other than Nato, the names of Victor Martins, Caio Collet and Sette Camara have also been linked to the seat, although The Race understands that Nato remains the favourite for it because of his experience and knowledge of the team.
Collet is likely to want to either continue his career in the US with a second Indy NXT season in 2025 or make a return to Europe to rejoin the junior single-seater ladder, despite impressing Nissan at the Portland E-Prix in June when he stood in for an unwell Rowland.
Sette Camara is known to be looking for an alternative to the ERT seat he has occupied for the last two seasons. Although it remains an outside bet for the Brazilian to find a berth at Nissan he does have admirers among many rival teams, especially for his commitment in qualifying.
Alpine-affiliated Formula 2 driver Martins has tested on several occasions for Nissan but not since 2023. He is racing this season for the ART GP team and is currently ninth in the F2 standings with one sprint race victory at Barcelona in June.
His chances of a full-time promotion to a race seat at Nissan are believed to be slim.