Conducted and written by Vyas Ponnuri
Formula E’s tenth season marked a turning point in Oliver Rowland and Nissan’s fortunes. The Briton’s successful reunion with Nissan Formula E Team blossomed into a story that captured the hearts and minds of many ardent followers of the series.
Vyas Ponnuri sits down with Oliver Rowland to talk about his reunion with Nissan and the season that followed….
The happy homecoming was certainly one to savour for both parties, as Rowland scored 156 points all season, finishing a lofty fourth in the standings despite missing the Portland double-header in June.
His synergy with an ever-improving Nissan Formula E powertrain catapulted the team up to fourth in the standings, their best finish ever since the team started out in collaboration with DAMS all the way back in season five.
The Japanese team’s uptick in performance saw them claim victory in Misano and London, while Rowland delighted at the team’s home event in Tokyo, picking up pole before leading for most of the 35-lap race.
While Nissan Formula E Team took major strides towards achieving their front-running ambitions, it was in 2024 when the Japanese team finally unlocked race-winning pace.
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Monaco. 2023. Oliver Rowland retired from the main race, having run into Maserati’s Edoardo Mortara at the Nouvelle chicane.
Rowland, however, had hurt his arm in the incident. The bruise his arm suffered certainly stung. His recovery period perhaps increased, after Mahindra parted ways with the Briton after the race weekend.
Reports may have spoken of the Briton being disillusioned with the pace of the Mahindra M9 Electro in the first Gen3 campaign. Although, Rowland later mentioned it wasn’t his call.
It’s not normal for a driver to receive an extended break, and for Rowland, the break rejuvenated him, and helped him reset his mindset, even if he didn’t believe he needed it back then.
“I've been racing for nearly over 20 years now, and it's very rare to get a sustained break.” Rowland responded. “So I think that was quite needed for me. And it obviously refreshed me, reset my goals and targets and was able to come back in a better way.”
“But at the time, the way I was feeling, it wasn't really something that I wanted to do or intended to do,” Rowland mentioned.
But as they say, everything happens for a reason. When one door closes, another opens. And for Rowland, a return to a former employer loomed during the off season between seasons nine and ten.
“It was a little bit of a strange situation at Nissan at that point,” Rowland expressed, on his move from Nissan to Mahindra at the end of season seven. “There was a restructuring going on where Nissan were planning to take the team over (from DAMS).”
“At the time, it was quite complex, because it still wasn't confirmed and nothing was set in stone about what was actually going to happen."
"So it was very difficult for me to actually, let's say, renew my deal there in sort of the way that I wanted to,” Rowland elaborated, delving deep into the circumstances that may have essentially ‘forced’ a move away from the team.
Yet, the driver and team never lost contact, and Rowland detailed how his struggles and displeasure with the Indian manufacturer’s form led to their separation, which eventually led to a Nissan return after an uncertain few months in 2023.
“I couldn't see much light at the end of the tunnel,” Rowland described, as he delved into the tales of his one-and-a-half years of Mahindra’s struggles that spilled into the beginning of the Gen3 era.
“There was always that want from both sides to kind of find some way to put it (a return to Nissan) back together,” Rowland remarked, having been in regular contact with the Nissan Formula E team principal Tommaso Volpe.
“When I stopped with Mahindra, I had nothing agreed or set in stone to move anywhere. So that was a little bit of a tense period, obviously, hanging up your gloves without any confirmed seat for the following season,” Rowland mentioned, terming how it was a ‘brave’ move to do so.
Yet, this brave decision eventually materialised in a special homecoming, and as Rowland expresses, the motivation to continue from where they had left off was still there.
“As soon as that (Mahindra departure) was announced, we (Nissan and Rowland) quickly got together again. The want was still there from both sides to do something, and we did, and I found myself back here (at Nissan). I think from everyone's perspective, it was a pretty good move,” Rowland remarked, looking back on his happy reunion.
With the Barnsley native’s return confirmed shortly after the season had come to an end, Rowland had plenty of time to settle in and understand where the team stood, ahead of what was set to be a defining season.
A special season ten on the cards for Oliver Rowland and Nissan
While Nissan Formula E Team had made a step up in season nine after their rebrand was complete, it still wasn’t enough to put them in the big league of race winners, alongside the likes of Jaguar, Porsche, Andretti, and Envision Racing.
Many wouldn’t have placed the Japanese team as favourites for season ten, but the team picked up the pace as the season progressed, visible through Rowland’s podiums at Diriyah, and once Formula E returned in São Paulo and Tokyo after a two-month hiatus.
Rowland’s driving has certainly taken an improved course in 2024, the Barnsley native now more measured and clinical in executing race starts.
The Nissan Formula E Team racer puts it down to the improved package underneath, and explains how this helped him trust his instincts and become more confident in his decisions on the track.
“I think the biggest thing for me was, I was always fighting with a little bit one hand tied behind my back when I was either at Nissan at the end of (my) last season or even both years at Mahindra,” Rowland explained, referring to his initial days of racing in the series with slower machinery at his disposal.
“You kind of become a bit desperate to try and do something to kind of make your result better,” he continued.
Throughout the season, I got kind of more confident that I had the ability to come through (the field) and I had the package underneath me.
“It allows you to pick and choose your moments in the right place, and I think it was more of a mentality than anything that I learned,” Rowland expresses, speaking of how an improved Nissan Formula E package underneath led to a boost in his confidence and approach.
“I think gaining confidence and just trusting my instincts was the biggest thing that I came about and learned from last year (season ten)” Rowland expressed.
The Nissan Formula E Team racer also epitomises the team continually optimising their package across the season, witnessed by their consistent uptick in form across the year.
The Tokyo Talk: High spirits at Nissan’s home race
Formula E’s perseverance to bring the series to Tokyo has been well documented, with ambitions to bring the series to Japan since its dawn in 2014.
Come season ten, the cards had finally played out in their favour. This meant Nissan would finally cherish the feeling of racing at home.
Considering the magnitude of the event and its proximity to the company’s headquarters, members of Nissan’s top brass made their way to the venue. Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida even accompanied the team’s garage for the weekend.
Rowland added how he was satisfied to perform well in such a bustling weekend, and even more so in front of the big bosses.
“It's tricky,” Rowland explains. “I think there's so many different things to manage in a race like Tokyo. Obviously, it was a huge amount of excitement for the team,” he says, with the reception even greater given the team’s origins in the nation.
You go on track, and there's also a level of expectation when you know the CEO turns up at the box, and a lot of other top people from Nissan too.
"Seeing all those people in the crowd waving the flags, there's that whole hope and optimism on your shoulders,” Rowland expresses, expressing how the home crowd spurred him on all weekend.
While Rowland couldn’t convert the coveted pole into victory, he was proud to have secured a podium in front of the top brass and the jubilant home crowd.
“There's also a huge satisfaction that we'd actually been able to do that (finish second) in front of Nissan's home crowd and everything that goes with that was, you know, fantastic,” the Briton expressed.
Recapping the ups and downs of Oliver Rowland's manic Misano weekend
Rowland has always reserved his magic for Formula E’s infamous peloton races in 2024. While his drives in Berlin and São Paulo have seen him come from far down the grid, it was in Misano when Rowland finally claimed that elusive victory, following Antonio Felix Da Costa’s disqualification.
On course to make it two victories in a weekend the following day, heartbreak would strike. Rowland’s joy was cut short on the final lap, with cameras panning to the Nissan pulling over to the side of the track between turns five and six.
“It's never nice to kind of lose something so close to the end,” Rowland described, speaking of his Misano heartbreak. “The thoughts with four to five laps to go, uh, in my own head with it, it's done, it's over. I've won. I just kind of keep it on track and I'll be okay,” he said, explaining his focus for the race.
However, the weekend certainly exceeded expectations for both team and driver, according to Rowland. “We went into that weekend thinking this was going to be our Achilles heel because we don't have the efficiency,” the Nissan Formula E Team racer explained.
“If you'd have offered us 25 points for that whole weekend, we'd have been already delighted,” Rowland said, speaking of how Nissan Formula E Team only expected points, at best, heading into the weekend, but nearly took both victories.
“I thought it was a huge bit of motivation for everybody, in terms of what we'd been able to achieve,” Rowland said on the Misano weekend.
“I think that was kind of a real building block for us and a lot of confidence for everybody in the team, not just me, you know, all the engineers. management staff that, actually, we can perform when it matters on these types of tracks as well,” he elaborated, speaking of the confidence boost the team took from Misano.
How illness in Portland hurt Rowland’s championship prospects
Rowland entered the Portland E Prix weekend with a strong bid to go for the championship. Sitting on 131 points, he was 36 points behind table leader Nick Cassidy, with four races to go.
However, the Barnsley native’s title prospects were dealt a body blow when he was forced to sit out the weekend due to illness, replaced by reserve Caio Collet.
“Obviously it was very disappointing. Nobody ever wants to be in that position.” Rowland expressed, speaking how it was difficult watching the races from the sidelines."
“But after the weekend, I was quite clear in my mind that I kind of drew a line under it and crossed it out of my memory,” the Nissan Formula E Team racer continued.
Rowland won the season finale in London, cementing his fourth position finish in the standings, and the Briton certainly believed second or third in the standings was a possibility.
“Second or third was probably on the table, had I been in Portland,” he expressed, on how missing two races impacted his bid for a higher placing.
Even still, Rowland’s fourth position finish in 2024 helped Nissan to its best ever haul as a constructor, which matched their star driver’s finishing position in the teams’ standings.
With changes ahead of the upcoming season, don’t rule the Japanese manufacturer out of a potential title bid.
Working with Norman Nato for season 11
Nissan Formula E Team are one of several teams to tweak their driver line-up ahead of the upcoming season of Formula E.
The Japanese manufacturer made the tough call to part ways with sophomore racer Sacha Fenestraz, paving the way for Norman Nato’s return to the team, after a year with Andretti.
“I think obviously it's good to have Norman (Nato) back,” Rowland expressed, looking forward to working with the Frenchman for the first time. “I've not been teammates with him before,” he expressed.
“I've heard a lot of good things from the team from his season here in season nine. I think the good thing is he comes with a lot of experience (of the Porsche powertrain).
"He's been to Andretti, you know, he had a solid season last year alongside Jake (Dennis).” speaking of how Nato would be a valuable addition to the team ahead of season 11.
Rowland is cautious when it comes to setting expectations for a season ahead, expressing how he’d look to improve on his showing from season ten, considering the improving Nissan package at his disposal.
“I don't like to put expectations on how the season is going to go. But I'm pretty confident we have a significantly better package than we did last year. I’ll replicate and try and improve on some small things,” Rowland expressed, looking forward to the season ahead.
DIVEBOMB thanks Nissan and Oliver Rowland for giving this interview, and wishes the drivers the best for Formula E’s season 11, which returns to Mexico City this weekend.
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