In his own words: Rowland’s Mexico City triumph

Following an excellent Season 10 with Nissan Formula E Team, Oliver Rowland is looking to build on his positive form in the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. A tough start to the campaign in São Paulo meant he was looking to bounce back in Mexico City, and he duly delivered, clinching his fourth race win in the series. However, it was hard-fought, with an excellent strategy and three late overtakes needed, despite a Safety Car intervention threatening to deny him…

After qualifying well on Saturday morning, lining up fourth on the grid at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the Brit quickly made his way into the top three in the opening stages. Later in the race, Rowland activated his six remaining minutes of Attack Mode. With the cars in front already out of their extra power for the E-Prix, the driver of the #23 Nissan e-4ORCE 05 was in the box seat for victory, but seconds later, the Safety Car was deployed.

“I was managing energy well throughout the race and always staying in contention in the top-five, which is important in these events. The moment the Safety Car came out, I was frustrated as I thought it was São Paulo happening again and I thought I wasn’t going to get a chance to attack for the podium.”

Luckily, the stricken car was cleared quickly and as the Safety Car peeled into the pit-lane, the Nissan Formula E Team driver still had 80 seconds of Attack Mode left to use. He pulled off three stunning overtakes in the space of one lap to take himself onto the top step of the podium, expertly managing his way to victory, claiming his and the Japanese outfit’s first win in Mexico City.

“When we came round Turn 12, the car which had caused the delay was still there, so I was resigned to the fact that I would have no Attack Mode left at the restart. However, the marshals did a brilliant job of clearing it and suddenly in the space of 20 seconds we were about to go racing again.

“You don’t really have time to think in that situation, but I knew that I only had 80 seconds left and I felt like I’d been dealt a bad hand. So, the moment we restarted I only had one goal in my mind, which was to battle my way through as quickly as possible, and that ended up with me leading the E-Prix. There was no way that I was going to give up the opportunity to secure the victory especially at a special track like Mexico.”

The result moved Rowland into second in the Drivers’ Standings and Nissan now finds itself in the same position in the Manufacturers’ Championship, just a point off the lead.

“It’s great to now be up there and being spoken about in the title fight even this early in the campaign. Last season was amazing with two wins and five further podiums, but we were also sometimes inconsistent. I missed the races in Portland and had a crash in London, so I think we’ve learnt a lot from this. It’s about maximizing your good days like we did in Mexico and providing solid results when you can’t get onto the podium. That’s the key target for Season 11, and if we can do this then I think we’ll be in a good position when we finish in London.”

Formula E returns with the first double-header of the season at a new venue in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on February 14-15.