Credit: Nick Dungan courtesy of FIA Formula E
It was announced by Andretti Global on Tuesday afternoon that Norman Nato had been signed as André Lotterer’s replacement for season 10, something which is huge for their 2023/24 Constructors’ Championship aspirations.
Following the conclusion of the 2022/23 season in London at the end of July, it was beginning to look like Nato was the victim of bad luck once again, as he faced another year without a seat on the grid. Nissan announced in the closing rounds that the Frenchman wouldn’t be retained for next year, with Oliver Rowland having returned to replace him.
It was somewhat of a familiar position for Nato, who sat on the bench at Jaguar TCS Racing in season eight after ROKIT Venturi replaced him with Lucas di Grassi. Even Andretti weren’t initially considering the 31-year-old, with talks having been held with 2022 Formula 2 Champion Felipe Drugovich and season seven Formula E World Champion Nyck de Vries.
Drugovich was expected to take the seat alongside reigning World Champion Jake Dennis; however, the Brazilian’s reluctance to wave goodbye to a potential Formula 1 seat saw Andretti’s interest cool. This opened the door to Nato.
There is no doubting that Nato deserves the seat, with him having proven once again for Nissan this year that he’s one of the quickest drivers on the grid. Whilst he doesn’t necessarily give off the vibes of being a possible title contender, he is a very strong competitor to have in the team.
In many ways, signing Nato is a masterclass by Andretti, given the issues Drugovich or De Vries would’ve presented. Whilst Drugovich has proven to be quick in the Formula E rookie tests – he topped Free Practice 0 in Rome for Maserati MSG Racing – there is no guarantee that he’ll have an instant impact when it comes to the races.
Formula E is a very tricky championship to settle into, something Andretti would’ve had no choice but to give the Aston Martin F1 reserve time to do. In a Constructors’ Championship fight, you need two drivers to be scoring points consistently, something which the American side likely wouldn’t have with Drugovich at first.
The same can arguably be said for De Vries, who hasn’t competed in Formula E since 2022, following his unsuccessful switch to F1. Whilst there is no doubting that De Vries is a very successful Formula E driver, being quick instantly would be a challenge, both because he’s been away from the championship but also because he’d likely be low on confidence for obvious reasons.
Above: De Vries has been linked to multiple teams over a potential return to Formula E, something which now looks very unlikely – Credit: Sam Bloxham courtesy of FIA Formula E
If Andretti signed De Vries, they would’ve had to give him time to get back up to speed, something which would, again, likely result in a slow start to the season points wise.
This is what cost the side in the standings this year, with Lotterer having spent the majority of season nine towards the back of the grid following his switch from the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team. Lotterer’s struggles left all the work to Dennis, who in many ways single-handedly secured the Porsche customer team third in the standings.
Andretti’s package is clearly very strong, as proven by Dennis’ record-breaking 11 podiums in 2023. If Lotterer was stronger, Envision Racing would’ve potentially been beaten by Andretti to the Constructors’ Championship. Andretti finished 52 points behind Envision. If Dennis’ and Nato’s points totals were added together, they would’ve been just 12 behind.
Nato did require time to get back into the swing of things, having spent all but the final two races of season eight off the grid. It took the Frenchman half a season to consistently get back amongst the points, before claiming a top-10 finish in each of the last six races of the campaign.
He notably also secured Nissan’s first podium as an official Formula E manufacturer, despite the Japanese manufacturer’s car lacking in efficiency. Nissan had a very quick car over one-lap, but they often tumbled backwards when it came to the races.
Nato won’t have this issue at Andretti, with Dennis having proven that their car is both rapid in qualifying and incredibly efficient during the races. The Cannes-born driver also seems like the sort of character who would thrive in a team like Andretti, rather than buckle under the pressure of having one of the strongest seats on the grid.
The combo of Dennis and Nato does feel strong enough to take on Jaguar’s new line-up of Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, in what is the best pairing the Coventry-based side have ever had.
If Nato settles into the team quickly and is able to replicate his end-of-season performances from the get-go in Mexico City, then Andretti could be in with their best chance yet of becoming Formula E Constructors’ Champions.
Keyword: Why signing Nato is significant for Andretti’s 2024 title hopes