Fenestraz almost quit as a driver, but then he became F3 champion

Sacha Fenestraz made his debut in Formula E in 2022 as a replacement for Antonio Giovinazzi. This weekend, he starts his first season as a full-time driver at the Mexico City ePrix and he does so alongside Norman Nato at the Nissan team. GPblog.com spoke to the young talent about his expectations in his rookie season.

After being a reserve driver for several years, Fenestraz has secured a permanent seat with Nissan ahead of the new FE season. Understandably, the French-Argentine driver is overjoyed about it. "It has always been my dream to race in a world championship like this, so I am looking forward to it," he says. At the same time, he feels the tension, as the winter test in Valencia brought anything but clarity on the balance of power on the grid.

Disappointment Renault almost led to end of career

Fenestraz competed in European Formula 3 in 2018. He was part of the Renault Sport Academy, now known as the Alpine Academy. However, that track ended in disappointment, which almost led to him having to end his career. "We had a difficult year with the team. In general, and it was my first year there. We didn’t achieve what the Renault academy requested so at the end of the year they, unfortunately, dropped me out," the 23-year-old driver explained.

"I didn’t have the budget to stay in Europe. We were close to stop racing at the end of 2018 because of that." At that point, he set a goal for himself: the Macau Grand Prix. If that one went well, he and his family would do everything they could to continue for another year. He finished on the podium and so he decided to give it another chance.

Golden move leads to title in rookie season

Fenestraz switched to Japanese Formula 3, which proved to be a golden move. He took eight wins and secured the title in the penultimate race of his rookie season. "That gave me the opportunity to race as a professional driver for Toyota. A year on from when I was thinking to quit, to a year later achieving one of my dreams of a full-time professional factory driver."