“I’ve always dreamed [of] racing in a World Championship”: Sacha Fenestraz on his rise to Formula E
Nissan Formula E driver, Sacha Fenestraz speaks about his motorsport career that has led him to driving for Nissan in the FIA Formula E World Championship.
Transcript
00:00 Sasha Fenestraz is in his second season of Formula E, having risen through the motorsport ranks to get there.
00:05 For local TV Sport, we asked him about his racing career so far.
00:09 Yeah, Sasha, just tell us a bit about your experience with Formula E and the sport,
00:14 you know, when you first got into it and why you love it so much as well.
00:18 Well, for me, I've always dreamed to be racing in a world championship, you know, for me as a racing driver,
00:25 having that opportunity of participating in a world championship is huge.
00:29 You know, there isn't many out there and that was one of the dreams.
00:33 Secondly, you know, we know what's going on around the world with the climate change and etc.
00:37 And I was kind of, you know, being young in my age also, I was like, you know,
00:42 this can hopefully show a little bit of, you know, helping a little bit in a way the world.
00:47 And then, of course, on the racing side of things, it's just being able to compare myself
00:51 against the best drivers in the world after Formula 1.
00:54 That was always so even best drivers in the world, you know,
00:56 and maybe I do think some of the drivers have as the same level as some F1 drivers.
01:02 So, you know, I always wanted to compare myself to the best ones.
01:04 And that's the chance for me to be racing in this championship and being able to do that.
01:09 Obviously, it's been a long road to get Formula E.
01:12 You've raced in Formula 4, Formula Renault, Formula 3, for example, as well in your career so far.
01:17 How did those lower formula prepare you for the biggest scale that is Formula E?
01:23 Well, a lot, you know, especially go-karts.
01:26 I mean, everyone starts from go-karts from zero with that.
01:29 And it's an important step of racing that you go, you need to go through really go-karts.
01:35 And then you grow up and I've learned a lot.
01:38 I think if I had to choose the years, let's say, where I learned the most,
01:43 I would definitely say in Japan, just being able to race professional.
01:46 You know, I was 20 years old when I signed with the Japanese manufacturer, Toyota,
01:52 to be racing professionally with them.
01:54 And just being able to race at those such a high level,
01:57 so many engineers and being able to communicate, you know, in a professional way,
02:02 which is quite different to what you can experience in Formula Renault and lower categories.
02:06 It's a different story, let's say.
02:08 So for me, those lower category helped me a lot to develop myself as a racing driver.
02:14 And just to wrap things up, Sasha, obviously, as Charles mentioned before,
02:18 this season's had its ups and its downs.
02:20 But looking ahead to next season and perhaps the future after that,
02:23 what's next for you, whether it be in Formula E or whether it be in another Formula?
02:28 No, for me at the moment, it's I'm staying here in Formula E next year.
02:32 So yeah, looking forward to developing my Formula E career,
02:38 because as I said earlier, there's still things that I need to improve.
02:42 And I'm here, you know, staying for a longer term.
02:46 So for me at the moment is focusing already on next year,
02:50 because I know I'll be here and hopefully starting to achieve some better results
02:55 and some podiums, hopefully.
02:56 Fenerstrasse clearly has the ambition to get to the top
03:00 and will be looking to improve in the 2023/24 season.