Oliver Rowland

Oliver Rowland
Rowland in 2024
Nationality	British
Born	(1992-08-10) 10 August 1992 (age 32) Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England
Formula E career
Debut season	2015–16
Current team	Nissan
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car number	23
Former teams	Nissan e.dams Mahindra
Starts	78
Championships	0
Wins	3
Podiums	13
Poles	8
Fastest laps	3
Best finish	4th in 2023–24
Finished last season	4th (156 pts)
Previous series
2017 2015–16 2014–15 2012–13 2013 2011 2010–11	FIA Formula 2 Championship GP2 Series Formula Renault 3.5 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Formula Renault UK FR2.0 UK Winter/Finals Series
Championship titles
2015 2011	Formula Renault 3.5 Series FR2.0 UK Finals Series
Awards
2011 2011	McLaren Autosport Award BRDC SuperStar

Oliver Eric Rowland (born 10 August 1992) is a British racing driver. He currently competes in Formula E driving for Nissan Formula E Team. He has previously competed for Manor Motorsport in the 2018 WEC season, and he was also previously the young driver of Williams F1 Team during the 2018 Formula 1 season.

Early career

Karting

Born in Barnsley, Rowland began karting at the age of seven, and spent a successful decade racing in the various classes around the United Kingdom. After finishing second in the Super 1 National Cadet Championship in 2002, Rowland won the championship for the next two years. In 2005, Rowland moved into the JICA class series, and again finished as a championship runner-up, finishing just two points behind Will Stevens. Rowland also narrowly missed out on the title in 2006, finishing one point behind champion Jack Harvey, and was also second in the Monaco Kart Cup driving for Zip Kart, behind Millennium Motorsport's Scott Jenkins. He also finished 20th in the European Championship for the class. After his two previous runner-up campaigns, Rowland took the Super 1 JICA title in 2007, 30 points clear of nearest rival Tom Joyner. Joyner did however take the British Open Championship, where Rowland finished in third position. In the continental races, Rowland could only finish 25th in Monaco, and 37th in the European Championship. Rowland moved up to the KF2 class in 2008, and became a member of the Tony Kart Racing Team. Rowland won the CIK-FIA World Cup event in, and also placed third in the WSK International Series and fifth in the European Championship. He also competed in the KF1 Asia-Pacific series, where he finished eleventh.

In 2009, Rowland competed for most of the season in Super KF, competing for Chiesa Corse. He finished sixth in the European Championship, ninth in the World Cup, and twelfth in the World Championship; his best result came at the South Garda Winter Cup, where he finished in fourth position. Rowland remained in Super KF in 2010, where he won his second World Cup crown, and also finished 16th in the KZ1 version of the series.

Formula Renault

Oliver Rowland in Motorland Aragon 2014

Rowland left karting and stepped into Formula Renault, contesting the 2010 Formula Renault UK Winter Series with CRS Racing. He also received sponsorship from the Racing Steps Foundation, which funded his graduation into car racing. ^[1] He took two twelfth-place finishes in his first car racing meeting at Snetterton, but eventually took his first win in the final race of the championship, at Pembrey. ^[2] The victory helped to move up into seventh place in the championship standings, finishing tied on points with Luke Wright but ahead on countback.

Rowland moved to Fortec Motorsport for a full British championship campaign in 2011. ^[3] Rowland took his first podium of the season, with third place at Donington Park, starting a run of four consecutive podiums – all third places – before a run of just two podium finishes in seven races. Rowland's last seven races were his best in the championship, taking four wins, four fastest laps, three pole positions and three second places. As a result of the strong run, Rowland became the winner of the Graduate Cup for young drivers, and finished as runner-up to teammate Alex Lynn in the main championship; the runner-up position was only sealed on the final lap of the final race, setting the quickest lap to score two bonus points in order to move him into a tie on points with Tio Ellinas, but with four wins to Ellinas' two, he placed ahead on countback. ^[4] He also contested the Formula Renault UK Finals Series with the team, and comfortably won the championship with four race wins from six races. ^[5] Rowland was nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award due to his performances in the main series. ^[6] On 4 December 2011, after the evaluation tests held at Silverstone, Rowland was named as the winner of the award, taking the £100,000 cash prize and a Formula One test with McLaren. ^[7] He led the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship after taking his third victory of the 2013 season at the Red Bull Ring, eventually finishing the season second in the standings.

He was part of the McLaren young driver programme in 2007–2010 ^[8]

Formula Renault 3.5

Rowland in 2012

Rowland signed a contract with Fortec Motorsport in July 2013 to race the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in the 2014 season. He finished fourth overall with two wins and seven podiums. ^[9]

Rowland continued with Fortec Motorsport in the 2015 Formula Renault 3.5. He won eight races out of 17, becoming champion in the penultimate round. ^[10]

Rowland won a test with Red Bull F1 at Silverstone for leading the series in 2015. ^[11]

GP2 Series

In 2015, Rowland made his GP2 debut at Silverstone with MP Motorsport. He finished in the points in both races. He contested in three other rounds with MP and Status Grand Prix.

In February 2016, it was announced that Rowland would compete in the series full-time with MP, with whom he finished ninth.

For the 2017 season, Rowland switched to the DAMS squad, finishing third in the championship. ^[12]

Formula One

In February 2016, Rowland was confirmed as a member of Renault's young driver program, ^[13] and in April 2017 Rowland was signed to the role of development driver to the Renault F1 Team. ^[14]

In February 2018 Rowland was confirmed as Williams Martini Racing's official Junior Driver. ^[15]

Formula E

Mahindra Racing (2015)

Rowland competed in the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix with Mahindra Racing, in place of Nick Heidfeld, who had to undergo surgery for ligament damaged that he sustained during the Putrajaya ePrix. ^[16] Rowland started the race 16th on the grid, and managed to finish in 13th place. He did not race again in Formula E for the rest of the season, but he served as a studio pundit for the television broadcast at some of the remaining races. ^[17]

Nissan e.dams (2017–2021)

2016–17 season

Rowland with Nissan

During the 2016-17 season, Rowland was hired by Renault e.Dams as a standby replacement for Sébastien Buemi for the 2017 Mexico City ePrix. ^[18]

2018–19 season

In November 2018, Rowland joined the championship full-time with the newly re-branded Nissan e.Dams following the departure of Alexander Albon to Toro Rosso. ^[19] He claimed his first pole in Formula E in Sanya ePrix and finished in second place in the race, which was his first podium in Formula E.

2019–20 season

He took his first Formula E win at the 2020 Berlin ePrix, leading every lap after starting on pole position. ^[20]

Return to Mahindra (2022–2023)

2021–22 season

Rowland moved to Mahindra for the 2021–22 Formula E season. ^[21] He took his first points finish for the team at the 2022 Diriyah ePrix. Rowland retired from the inaugural Jakarta ePrix after losing one of this tyres on the second lap. ^[22]

2022–23 season

Rowland driving for Mahindra at the 2023 Berlin ePrix

Rowland remained with Mahindra for the 2022–23 season alongside Lucas di Grassi, who replaced Alexander Sims. ^[23] Ahead of the Jakarta ePrix, Rowland was announced to have parted ways with Mahindra with immediate effect, and Roberto Merhi was drafted to replace him. ^[24]

Return to Nissan (2024—)

2023–24 season

Rowland at the 2024 Tokyo ePrix

Rowland reunited with Nissan, the team he drove from 2018 to 2021, for the 2023–24 season alongside Sacha Fenestraz. ^[25] Rowland had the best season of his Formula E career, scoring 7 podiums, 2 pole positions and 2 wins, finishing the season in 4th with 156 points, beating Fenestraz who finished 17th with only 26 points.

2024–25 season

Rowland remained with Nissan for the 2024–25 season alongside Norman Nato, who replaces Sacha Fenestraz. ^[26]

Racing record

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	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	Manor MP Motorsport	14	3	2	2	8	179	2nd
	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC		8	4	4	4	8	208	4th
	Pau Formula Renault 2.0 Trophy		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
2014	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Fortec Motorsports	17	2	3	1	7	181	4th
2015	Formula Renault 3.5 Series		17	8	7	4	13	307	1st
	GP2 Series	MP Motorsport	4	0	0	0	0	3	21st
		Status Grand Prix	3	0	0	0	0
2015–16	Formula E	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	Renault F1 Team	Development driver
2018	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Strakka Racing	2	0	0	0	0	6	41st
	24 Hours of Le Mans	CEFC TRSM Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing	1	0	0	0	0	6	22nd
	Formula One	Williams Martini Racing	Development driver
2018–19	Formula E	Nissan e.Dams	13	0	3	0	2	71	10th
	FIA World Endurance Championship	CEFC TRSM Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2019–20	Formula E	Nissan e.Dams	11	1	1	1	1	83	5th
2020–21	Formula E	Nissan e.Dams	15	0	1	1	2	77	14th
2021–22	Formula E	Mahindra Racing	16	0	1	0	1	32	14th
2022–23	Formula E	Mahindra Racing	9	0	0	0	0	9	21st
2023–24	Formula E	Nissan Formula E Team	14	2	2	1	7	156	4th
2024–25	Formula E	Nissan Formula E Team

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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	DON 2 3	THR 1 3	THR 2 3	OUL 1 4	OUL 2 2	CRO 1 3	CRO 2 Ret	SNE 1 4	SNE 2 7	SIL1 1 5	SIL1 2 2	ROC 1 1	ROC 2 2	BHGP 1 1	BHGP 2 1	SIL2 1 2	SIL2 2 1	2nd	475

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos	Points
2012	Fortec Motorsports	ALC 1 6	ALC 2 8	SPA 1 26	SPA 2 4	NÜR 1 8	NÜR 2 Ret	MSC 1 3	MSC 2 3	HUN 1 16	HUN 2 6	LEC 1 15	LEC 2 6	CAT 1 5	CAT 2 1	3rd	109
2013	Manor MP Motorsport	ALC 1 10	ALC 2 3	SPA 1 1	SPA 2 33	MSC 1 2	MSC 2 1	RBR 1 5	RBR 2 1	HUN 1 8	HUN 2 3	LEC 1 6	LEC 2 3	CAT 1 2	CAT 2 28	2nd	179

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos	Points
2014	Fortec Motorsports	MNZ 1 6	MNZ 2 10	ALC 1 3	ALC 2 1	MON 1 5	SPA 1 Ret	SPA 2 3	MSC 1 Ret	MSC 2 5	NÜR 1 4	NÜR 2 Ret	HUN 1 3	HUN 2 4	LEC 1 13	LEC 2 3	JER 1 2	JER 2 1	4th	181
2015	Fortec Motorsports	ALC 1 1	ALC 2 3	MON 1 6	SPA 1 5	SPA 2 1	HUN 1 3	HUN 2 1	RBR 1 1	RBR 2 2	SIL 1 2	SIL 2 1	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 10	BUG 1 1	BUG 2 8	JER 1 1	JER 2 2	1st	307

Complete GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2015	MP Motorsport	BHR FEA	BHR SPR	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	MON SPR	RBR FEA	RBR SPR	SIL FEA 10	SIL SPR 7	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	SPA FEA NC	SPA SPR Ret	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	SOC FEA	SOC SPR					21st	3
	Status Grand Prix																			BHR FEA 22	BHR SPR Ret	YMC FEA 15	YMC SPR C
2016	MP Motorsport	CAT FEA 10	CAT SPR 6	MON FEA 3	MON SPR 7	BAK FEA 4	BAK SPR 15†	RBR FEA 6	RBR SPR 2	SIL FEA 3	SIL SPR 3	HUN FEA 11	HUN SPR 6	HOC FEA 5	HOC SPR 5	SPA FEA 10	SPA SPR 6	MNZ FEA 9	MNZ SPR 9	SEP FEA 12	SEP SPR 8	YMC FEA Ret	YMC SPR 11	9th	107
2017	DAMS	BHR FEA 5	BHR SPR 3	CAT FEA 3	CAT SPR 2	MON FEA 1	MON SPR 9	BAK FEA 7	BAK SPR Ret	RBR FEA 4	RBR SPR 3	SIL FEA 3	SIL SPR 17	HUN FEA 1	HUN SPR 2	SPA FEA DSQ	SPA SPR 8	MNZ FEA Ret	MNZ SPR 11	JER FEA 2	JER SPR 3	YMC FEA DSQ	YMC SPR 7	3rd	191

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete Formula E results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Powertrain	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos	Points
2015–16	Mahindra Racing	Spark SRT01-e	Mahindra M2ELECTRO	BEI	PUT	PDE 13	BUE	MEX	LBH	PAR	BER	LDN	LDN							21st	0
2018–19	Nissan e.dams	Spark SRT05e	Nissan IM01	ADR 7	MRK 15	SCL Ret	MEX 20†	HKG Ret	SYX 2	RME 6	PAR 12	MCO 2	BER 8	BRN Ret	NYC 14	NYC 6				10th	71
2019–20	Nissan e.dams	Spark SRT05e	Nissan IM02	DIR 4	DIR 5	SCL 17	MEX 7	MRK 9	BER 14	BER 7	BER 6	BER 5	BER 1	BER Ret						5th	83
2020–21	Nissan e.dams	Spark SRT05e	Nissan IM02	DIR 6	DIR 7	RME 12	RME 16	VLC DSQ	VLC 4											14th	77
			Nissan IM03							MCO 6	PUE DSQ	PUE 3	NYC 7	NYC 19	LDN DSQ	LDN 18	BER 13	BER 2
2021–22	Mahindra Racing	Spark SRT05e	Mahindra M7Electro	DRH Ret	DRH 8	MEX 16	RME Ret	RME Ret	MCO Ret	BER 11	BER 7	JAK Ret	MRK 10	NYC 13	NYC 14	LDN Ret	LDN Ret	SEO 2	SEO Ret	14th	32
2022–23	Mahindra Racing	Formula E Gen3	Mahindra M9Electro	MEX 13	DRH 19	DRH Ret	HYD 6	CAP WD	SAP 15	BER 10	BER 14	MCO Ret	JAK	JAK	POR	RME	RME	LDN	LDN	21st	9
2023–24	Nissan Formula E Team	Formula E Gen3	Nissan e-4ORCE 04	MEX 11	DRH 13	DRH 3	SAP 3	TOK 2	MIS 1	MIS Ret	MCO 6	BER 3	BER 3	SHA 4	SHA 10	POR WD	POR WD	LDN 15	LDN 1	4th	156
2024–25	Nissan Formula E Team	Formula E Gen3	Nissan e-4ORCE 05	SAO	MEX	JED	JED	MIA	MCO	MCO	TKO	TKO	SHA	SHA	JKT	BER	BER	LDN	LDN	–	–

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2018–19	CEFC TRSM Racing	LMP1	Ginetta G60-LT-P1	Mecachrome V634P1 3.4 L Turbo V6	SPA WD	LMS Ret	SIL	FUJ	SHA	SEB	SPA	LMS	NC	0

24 Hours of Le Mans Results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2018	CEFC TRSM Racing	Alex Brundle Oliver Turvey	Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome	LMP1	137	DNF	DNF

References

1. "Drivers set for RSF FRUK seat battle". racingsteps.co.uk. Racing Steps Foundation. 27 October 2010. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
2. "Thrilling Victory For Oliver Rowland At Pembrey". CRS Racing . CR Scuderia. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2011.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
3. "RSF confirms 2011 driver line-up". racingsteps.co.uk. Racing Steps Foundation. 11 January 2011. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
4. "Champion Lynn and Rowland share the spoils at Silverstone". Renault Sport UK. Renault Sport. 16 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
5. "Rowland and Jiminez Takes the Titles". Renault Sport UK. Renault Sport. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
6. Turner, Kevin (6 October 2011). "McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award nominees for 2011 announced". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 5 December 2011.
7. O'Leary, Jamie (4 December 2011). "AUTOSPORT Awards McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC: Oliver Rowland". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 5 December 2011.
8. Simmons, Marcus. "McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner Oliver Rowland profile". Autosport.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
9. Arnau Viñals Vendrell, FormulaRapida.net "Rowland sings for Fortec Motorsport in Formula Renault 3.5 Series" "Rowland signs for Fortec Motorsport in Formula Renault 3.5 :: FormulaRapida.net". Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
10. "International Racing - FR3.5: Rowland claims title as Orudzhev wins". Archived from the original on 28 September 2015.
11. Mills, Peter. "FR3.5 leader Oliver Rowland to run Red Bull F1 car at Silverstone". Autosport.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
12. "DAMS reveal 2017 line up". 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
13. "Renault Sport Racing launches Renault Sport Academy". Renault Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
14. Kalinauckas, Alex. "Renault F1 team signs Oliver Rowland to development role for 2017". Autosport.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
15. "Oliver Rowland gets Williams F1 young driver role". formulascout.com. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
16. Smith, Luke (4 December 2015). "Rowland to replace Heidfeld for Punta del Este ePrix". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
17. "Rowland "completely different person" after three Formula E seasons with Buemi". www.autosport.com. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
18. Mitchell, Scott (22 February 2017). "Rowland, Lynn set for Mexico Formula E duties". Motorsport.com . Motorsport Network . Retrieved 30 November 2018.
19. "Nissan e.dams confirms driver lineup for Formula E championship". 30 November 2018. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
20. "Rowland takes first Formula E win in Berlin finale opener". The Race. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
21. "Oliver Rowland". www.mahindraracing.com. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
22. "Jakarta E-Prix: Evans beats Vergne to win thriller in Indonesia". www.autosport.com. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
23. "Mahindra Racing Signs Lucas Di Grassi For Gen3 Era". The Official Home of Formula E. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
24. Mackley, Stefan (28 May 2023). "Mahindra splits with Rowland, signs Merhi for Jakarta Formula E". Motorsport.com . Retrieved 29 May 2023.
25. "Oliver Rowland Makes Nissan Return". The Official Home of Formula E. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
26. "Nato rejoins Rowland to complete Nissan's Season 11 driver line-up". The Official Home of Formula E. 10 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Oliver Rowland career summary at DriverDB.com
• British Racing Drivers' Club profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Carlos Sainz Jr.	Formula Renault 3.5 Series Champion 2015	Succeeded by Tom Dillmann (Formula V8 3.5)
Awards
Preceded by Lewis Williamson	McLaren Autosport BRDC Award 2011	Succeeded by Jake Dennis