Nissan team principal Tommaso Volpe has blamed data issues for Oliver Rowland's failure to secure victory in the second round of the Misano E-Prix.
Roland started the final lap 1.5 seconds ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein to pull away from the German, but slowed at Turn 5 as he ran out of available energy.
Volpe said the team was trying to work around the issue and suggested inaccurate data may have skewed the calculations.
“We're trying to understand because everything seemed to be under control in terms of data, energy and battery temperature. So there must be something wrong with the data we were working with.” he said. “To be honest, I still don't understand. We're trying to understand, but it's been really, really weird.
Volpe stressed that it was definitely not a mechanical problem, adding: “I think it's more a problem with the data and control systems.” Everything seemed to be under control and Oliver did not report any mechanical issues or anything, so the system contained incorrect information such as number of laps.
“Really, it's too early. We need to look at the process and all the data we're managing in the garage to understand.”
He was quick to praise Roland, but had he won he would have become the first driver to sweep a weekend doubleheader since Wehrlein did it in Saudi Arabia early last season. He had scored four consecutive podiums until Sunday, including victory in Saturday's race following the disqualification of Antonio Felix da Costa.
“It's really disappointing. He did everything perfectly,” Volpe said. “Throughout the whole race he was in perfect control, just like he was yesterday, and could have won his second straight win, but this is motorsport. Yesterday was a very tough day for Antonio, so something like this It happens.”
Nevertheless, Volpe sees positives from the Misano E-Prix weekend, with Nissan hoping to cross paths with the front runners again in the race despite having an inferior package to runners such as Porsche and Jaguar. was completed.
“The team has made great progress and the big plus of this race was not only that Oli was so close to winning, but also that Sascha (Fenestraz) had a great performance. He actually finished sixth. did” (Later, as a result of Jake Hughes' penalty, he moved up to 5th place, his best result of the season -ED)'' said Volpe. “So I think overall the weekend was very positive. Of course it's frustrating that Oliver was a few corners away from winning.
“Again, it’s frustrating if you can find out what the problem was and deal with it for next time, but sometimes it’s a puncture or something… That’s motorsport, there are always elements that are out of your control. .”