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Every rookie must start from zero and for Norman Nato, Season 7 has been a campaign of learning as the Frenchman swapped the simulator for the cockpit to make his Formula E debut.
After completing four race weekends – and a six-week break in competition – Puebla marked the next stop on the calendar and for Norman, his first season continued.
As a new track for the whole paddock, a weekend of rapid learning was in store in Puebla – one of the most unique, and perhaps unusual circuits to host a Formula E race to date.
Featuring a banked corner, ever-changing grip levels, and a ‘Joker Lap’ Attack Mode activation zone, the circuit offered up a fresh set of challenges as Norman explains.
“Puebla was quite tough as a circuit I would say. The main issue was that the conditions were constantly changing and that made racing there very challenging.
“The grip itself was poor but the track was also quite dirty and because the surface was quite old, a lot of water was rising to the top. Sometimes, you would arrive at a corner and there would be some water on the track, even though it wasn’t raining.
“If you went slightly offline, it was very easy to lose the car and we saw a lot of drivers making mistakes. This was especially the case in Turn 15 – there was only one line through there so if you went slightly wide, you would run straight into the wall.
“I had a moment on the banking in qualifying and nearly crashed because I got slightly offline. You really had to fight the car quite a lot in the 250kW mode.
“Strategy over the weekend was also arguably more important than ever before in my opinion because of the positioning of Attack Mode.
“The activation point was longer than usual and taking Attack Mode was like doing a Joker Lap in Rallycross – the time loss outweighed the benefit of the power boost which was different to what we normally see in Formula E.
“The loop was also really dirty so it was difficult to find the limit, especially under braking. It was tricky and a lot of drivers also made mistakes there too.”
Following on from his mistake in qualifying on Saturday, Norman faced an uphill battle in Race 1 before showcasing a fighting display in the second leg of the double-header.
“After my mistake in qualifying for Race 1, we started quite far back. I was able to make up some positions during the race but truthfully, I wasn’t completely comfortable with the car,” continued Norman.
“I think Race 2 was better on a whole and I started from P12 but lost a lot of positions on lap 1 because I had to avoid an accident in front of me in Turn 4.
“Over the first half, I was under consuming so I had a better SOC [State Of Charge] than those around me and I managed to fight forward to the top 10.
“When I tried to overtake [Sebastien] Buemi though, he pushed me completely into the wall and something broke on the car which meant I had to retire.
“Ending the race in that way was a shame because up until that point, it was a quite a good comeback and I think we had the pace to be inside the top five.
“Unfortunately, incidents like that are the risk when you start at the back, and it’s important to make moves to progress through the field.
“As we have seen, qualifying is really important this season and if you’re starting outside of the top eight, it’s difficult to score big points. That’s not to say it is impossible, but for sure, it’s more difficult.
“In Formula E, it sometimes feels nearly impossible to have any consistency and occasionally you just have to accept what happens – some weekends will be good, some won’t be. That’s part of the unpredictability of the sport.”
Putting a difficult weekend of racing behind him, Norman’s focus now switches to the New York City E-Prix as Formula E returns to Brooklyn for the first time since 2019.
With the weekend coinciding with Norman’s 29th birthday, the E-Prix will mark his first visit to The Big Apple and the Frenchman is primed to fight from the get-go.
“I’m really looking forward to the next race in New York,” added Norman. “The track is very different to the one in Puebla and it’s a proper street circuit. The track is quite bumpy so it will be important to have a lot of confidence under braking.
“For sure, it will be tricky and I face a small disadvantage compared to the other drivers because I don’t know the circuit too well but that’s been the case all season and it’s a challenge I’ve overcome.
“I’m going to prepare as much as I can in the simulator so I can feel comfortable straight away and I’m excited to discover another new track.”
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