Great Britain’s Oliver Rowland Seals Maiden Formula E World Championship

Great Britain’s Oliver Rowland has won his maiden Formula E world championship, driving for Nissan astatine nan Berlin E-Prix. Rowland sealed nan title by taking 4th spot successful nan 2nd of 2 races astatine nan penultimate gathering of nan all-electric series’ play astatine Tempelhof airport.

Rowland was reduced to tears connected his in-lap aft starting eighth connected nan grid successful a hugely competitory race. The lead changed hands 16 times, including Rowland taking to nan front, successful what mightiness beryllium considered nan title of nan twelvemonth successful nan sport’s 11th play and which represents nan first clip Nissan person taken nan drivers’ title successful Formula E.

“Daddy, you’re nan world champion!” Rowland’s four-year-old daughter, Harper, exclaimed proudly to him complete nan squad power arsenic nan 32-year-old from Barnsley returned to nan pits.

The title is nan first of Rowland’s profession successful his seventh play successful Formula E. He has seen disconnected a beardown situation from nan Porsche of nan erstwhile Formula One driver Pascal Wehrlein, nan defending champion, but Rowland has been nan ascendant driver successful nan bid this twelvemonth to execute a profession high.

“I was already an affectional messiness erstwhile that came on,” Rowland said of his daughter’s message. “We are a team; my wife, my daughter. We person different 1 connected nan measurement and we spell done nan emotions together..”

This triumph comes only 2 years aft Rowland was disenchanted pinch nan capacity of his Mahindra team, truthful overmuch truthful that he near them midway done nan play and considered leaving nan athletics altogether. “There was a constituent wherever I was not very willing successful continuing,” he said. “I wasn’t enjoying myself, I recovered myself not wanting to get connected flights to travel to races. That was a problem.

Oliver Rowland fought disconnected beardown title from nan erstwhile Formula One driver Pascal Wehrlein. Photograph: Paulo Maria/DPPI/Shutterstock

“I took a large consequence to propulsion retired halfway done nan season, from a bully contract. I had thing connected nan array fresh for maine to sign. I took a large consequence but I knew I needed thing different.”

Rowland managed to unafraid a return to Nissan and this play has taken 4 wins and 7 podiums for nan team, capable to guarantee he could adjacent nan title retired pinch 2 races remaining, astatine nan play finale successful London astatine nan extremity of this month.

Sunday’s title was impressively won by Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy from 21st connected nan grid. But Rowland pulled retired an arsenic fantabulous recovery. He had struggled successful Saturday’s first title of nan play astatine Tempelhof, taking a five-place grid punishment aft causing a collision which besides forced his retirement, his first of nan season

Wehrlein started from rod and Rowland needed to outscore him by 11 points, an improbable imaginable astatine nan start. Wehrlein duly led successful nan early stages, looking successful each position to return nan conflict to nan last meeting. However, he went backwards successful nan 2nd half of nan race, stymied by his power strategy, and vanished extracurricular nan points.

Rowland began his profession successful Formula Renault earlier moving up to GP2. He won nan chance for a trial pinch nan Red Bull F1 squad and was taken connected arsenic portion of nan Renault young driver programme, becoming their improvement driver successful 2017. He became a inferior driver for Williams successful 2018 and completed a afloat trial of their car astatine Hungary that year.

Wanting to proceed racing, he took his first full-time thrust successful Formula E pinch nan Nissan squad successful nan 2018-19 season. He past spent 2 seasons pinch Mahindra betwixt 2021 and 2023 earlier what has turned retired to beryllium an enormously successful return pinch Nissan.