Oliver Rowland
Oliver Rowland | |
|---|---|
| Born | Oliver Eric Rowland August 10, 1992 Barnsley, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Racing driver |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Known for | 2024–25 Formula E World Champion |
| Notable work | Competing in Formula E with Nissan |
Oliver Eric Rowland (born 10 August 1992) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula E with the Nissan squad. He secured the 2024–25 Formula E World Championship title driving for Nissan.
Before joining Formula E, Rowland participated in the 2018 WEC season representing Manor Motorsport. Additionally, he was a development driver for the Williams F1 Team during the 2018 Formula 1 season. Beyond his own career, he also provides guidance and management to Red Bull Junior Team racer Arvid Lindblad.
Karting
Hailing from Barnsley, Rowland embarked on his karting journey at the age of seven, achieving notable success throughout the UK over ten years. After finishing as runner-up in the 2002 Super 1 National Cadet Championship, he captured the championship title consecutively in the following two years. In 2005, upon advancing to the JICA category, he narrowly missed out on the championship by two points, finishing second to Will Stevens.
Formula Renault
Transitioning from karting to single-seaters, Rowland competed in the 2010 Formula Renault UK Winter Series with CRS Racing. His progression into car racing was financially supported by the Racing Steps Foundation, which aided his move from karting. After initial finishes outside the top ten, he achieved his maiden victory at Pembrey.
In 2011, Rowland signed with Fortec Motorsport for a full campaign in the British Formula Renault championship. Early podium finishes set the tone for his season, culminating in an impressive run of four wins, four fastest laps, three pole positions, and three second-place results across his last seven races. This strong form earned him the Graduate Cup and second place overall in the championship behind teammate Alex Lynn. Notably, he secured second place on the final lap by setting the fastest lap to gain crucial bonus points, overtaking Tio Ellinas via countback. Furthermore, Rowland dominated the Finals Series, winning four out of six races to claim that title.
His outstanding performances led to a nomination and eventual triumph in the esteemed McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, which included a £100,000 prize and a test opportunity with McLaren's Formula One team.
Rowland was also affiliated with the McLaren young driver programme between 2007 and 2010.
Formula Renault 3.5
In July 2013, Rowland secured a contract with Fortec Motorsport to compete in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series during the 2014 campaign, concluding the season in fourth place overall with two victories and seven podium finishes.
He remained with Fortec for the 2015 season, dominating by winning eight out of 17 races and clinching the championship title in the second-to-last round. His outstanding results led to a test opportunity with Red Bull F1 at Silverstone as the championship leader.
GP2 Series
Rowland made his GP2 debut at Silverstone in 2015 driving for MP Motorsport, earning points in both races and later participating in three additional rounds split between MP and Status Grand Prix.
In 2016, he competed full-time with MP Motorsport, securing ninth position in the overall standings. The following year, Rowland joined DAMS and finished third in the championship rankings.
Formula One
Rowland became part of the Renault Sport Academy in February 2016 and was promoted to development driver for the Renault F1 Team by April 2017.
By February 2018, he advanced his career within Formula One by being named the official Junior Driver for Williams Martini Racing.
Mahindra Racing (2015)
Rowland stepped in for Nick Heidfeld at the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix competing with Mahindra Racing, after Heidfeld was sidelined due to ligament surgery following the 2015 Putrajaya ePrix. Starting from 16th on the grid, Rowland finished in 13th place. Although he did not participate further that season, he contributed as a studio analyst for several broadcasts.
2016–17 season
During the 2016–17 season, Rowland acted as a reserve driver for Sébastien Buemi at the 2017 Mexico City ePrix representing Renault e.Dams.
2018–19 season
In November 2018, Rowland secured a full-time seat with the rebranded Nissan e.Dams after Alexander Albon's departure to Toro Rosso. He achieved his inaugural Formula E pole position at the 2019 Sanya ePrix and finished second, earning his first podium finish.
2019–20 season
Rowland claimed his maiden Formula E victory at the 2020 Berlin ePrix, leading every lap after starting from pole.
2021–22 season
For the 2021–22 season, Rowland rejoined Mahindra. He scored his initial points for the team at the 2022 Diriyah ePrix, but suffered an early retirement due to tyre complications during the inaugural Jakarta ePrix.
2022–23 season
Continuing with Mahindra into the 2022–23 campaign, Rowland partnered with Lucas di Grassi, who took over from Alexander Sims. Prior to the 2023 Jakarta ePrix, Rowland and Mahindra mutually ended their collaboration, with Roberto Merhi stepping in as his successor.
2023–24 season
Rowland made a comeback to Nissan, where he previously raced from 2018 to 2021, for the 2023–24 season, teaming up with Sacha Fenestraz. He delivered his strongest Formula E campaign so far, securing seven podiums, two pole positions, and two wins, ultimately finishing fourth overall with a total of 156 points—substantially outperforming Fenestraz, who ended up seventeenth.
2024–25 season: World Champion
Rowland remained with Nissan for the 2024–25 campaign, this time teaming up with Norman Nato, who took over from Fenestraz. Although a late-race penalty affected his result in the opening round at São Paulo, Rowland claimed his inaugural victory of the season in Mexico City by overtaking António Félix da Costa utilizing attack mode. He then delivered an impressive performance in the first Jeddah race, finishing as runner-up, before securing a decisive win in the second race.
Despite experiencing challenges—such as falling from fourth to tenth place in Miami due to attack mode malfunctions—Rowland preserved his lead in the championship standings. His strong form persisted with a dominant triumph in Monaco race 1, achieved through well-timed attack mode deployment, followed by a pole-to-second finish in Monaco race 2 behind Sébastien Buemi. In Tokyo, he earned second place in race 1 and converted pole position into a victory in race 2.
Following varied outcomes in Shanghai and a penalty dropping him to tenth in Jakarta, Rowland retired from Berlin race 1 after a collision but recovered to finish fourth in race 2. This result secured him the Formula E World Championship title with two rounds remaining, highlighting his consistent performance and tactical acumen throughout the season.
2025–26 season
Rowland committed to a multi-year agreement to continue driving for Nissan during the 2025–26 season, once again alongside teammate Norman Nato.
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Formula Renault UK Winter Series | CRS Racing | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 95 | 7th |
| 2011 | Formula Renault UK | Fortec Motorsport | 20 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 475 | 2nd |
| Formula Renault UK Finals Series | Fortec Competition | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 190 | 1st | |
| 2012 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | Fortec Motorsport | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 109 | 3rd |
| 2013 | Manor MP Motorsport | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | 3 |2 |2 |8 |179 |style="background:#DFDFDF;" | 2nd | ||||||
| 2013 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC season |8 |4 |4 |4 |8 |208 |4th | |||||||||
| 2013 Formula Renault seasons#2013 Pau Trophy |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |N/A |4th | |||||||||
| 2014 | Fortec Motorsports | 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season | 2 |3 |1 |7 |181 |4th | ||||||
| 2015 | "Fortec Motorsports" | "2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season" | "17" | "8" | "7" | "4" | "13" | "307" | "1st" |
| "GP2 Series" | "MP Motorsport" | "4" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "3" | "21st" | |
| "GP2 Series" | "Status Grand Prix" | "3" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "0" | |||
| 2015–16 | "Formula E Championship" | "Mahindra Racing" | "1" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "21st" |
| 2016 | "GP2 Series" | "MP Motorsport" | "22" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "4" | "107" | "9th" |
| 2017 | "FIA Formula 2 Championship" | "DAMS" | "22" | "2" | "1" | "2" | "10" | "191" | '\'\'3rd\'\'\ |
| "Formula One World Championship" | "Renault F1 Team"
colspan="7"| Development driver | ||||||||
| 2018 |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 41st | ||||||||
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF | |||||||||
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22nd | |||||||||
colspan="7"| Development driver | |||||||||
| 2018–19 |
13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 71 | 10th | ||||||||
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |||||||||
| 2019–20 |
11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 83 | 5th | ||||||||
| 2020–21 |
15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 77 | 14th | ||||||||
| 2021–22 |
16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 14th | ||||||||
| 2022–23 |
9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 21st | ||||||||
| 2023–24 |
14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 156 | 4th | ||||||||
| 2024–25 |
16 | 4* |
2* |
0 | 7 | 184 | 1st |
- Season ongoing.
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship results
(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole positions) (Races shown in italics indicate fastest laps)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Fortec Motorsports | BRI 1 5 |
BRI 2 Ret |
DON 1 3 ... [Table continues unchanged] ... |
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
(key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics indicate fastest lap)
... [Table continues unchanged] ...Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results
(key) (Bold marks pole positions; italics show fastest laps)
... [Table continues unchanged] ...Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
(key) (Races in bold show poles; races in italics show fastest laps)
... [Table continues unchanged] ...Complete GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship results
(key) (Pole positions are in bold; fastest laps are italicized)
... [Table continues unchanged] ...† Classified despite not finishing after completing over 90% of the race distance.
Complete Formula E results
(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Pole positions displayed in bold; fastest laps shown in italics)
... [Table continues unchanged] ...† Did not finish but classified for completing more than 90% of the event. * Season currently underway.
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics signify fastest lap)
... [Table continues unchanged] ...
24 Hours of Le Mans Results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Vehicle | Category | Completed Laps | Overall Position | Category Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Template:Country data CHNTemplate:Namespace detect showall CEFC TRSM Racing | Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Alex Brundle Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Oliver Turvey |
Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome | LMP1 | 137 | DNF | DNF |