Oliver Rowland will remain a Nissan Formula E driver next season despite significant rival efforts and offers to lure him away.

Rowland, series champion in 2025, signed a long-term deal with Nissan earlier this year and was thought to be nailed on to continue with the Japanese manufacturer for the duration of the Gen4 period.

But recent approaches from at least two teams were believed to have turned his head temporarily, triggering emergency discussions between Rowland and Nissan that took place earlier this month.

Although neither party would comment when approached by The Race in London last week, it is believed that an agreement for continuity between them has been reached in recent days despite Rowland's talks with rival teams.

The Race understands that two of the teams in question - that at least talked to Rowland and also made offers for his services - are Penske and Envision.

Envision is set to announce the already-signed Maximilian Guenther shortly but is not completely set on his team-mate yet, although current Super Formula E driver Zak O’Sullivan recently tested the Gen4 development Jaguar and is being considered at the team.

Rowland is believed to have been unsettled for a while at Nissan after an inconsistent campaign in which, despite scoring a win at Monaco and racking up four other podium finishes, he was unable to mount a sturdy title defence.

But talks between the outgoing champion and Nissan team principal Tommaso Volpe are understood to have ironed out some discord and enabled a renewed focus on upcoming Gen4 testing, which Rowland will lead next month in addition to development driver Sam Bird.

Who replaces Nato?

Norman Nato said goodbye to his team on Sunday evening at London and, as reported by The Race last month, will concentrate his racing programme in endurance competition.

Nato was close to not being retained for 2026 after a difficult 2025 as Nissan almost signed Stoffel Vandoorne last summer, in an intricate deal with Stellantis Motorsport that was then the 2022 champion's employer.

A replacement for Nato for next season is still being considered by Nissan but should be selected by the end of August. Victor Martins and current Lola Yamaha ABT driver Zane Maloney are believed to be the only two drivers in the frame for the drive.

Martins was considered the favourite to replace Nato after a Gen4 test in May at Navarra in Spain. However, recently Maloney is understood to have piqued Nissan's interest - despite him having had a torrid second season with Lola.

That, though, has largely been through poor reliability and mistakes via the Lola Yamaha ABT team rather than Maloney himself, and Maloney out-qualified teammate Lucas di Grassi across the season.

Development driver Bird is not believed to be in contention for a return to a race seat for next season.