No homecoming celebation for FE champ Rowland

Oliver Rowland didn’t quite get the homecoming celebration he expected in Formula E’s season finale in London after coming away from both races without a point.

It didn’t matter of course – he clinched the championship last time out in Berlin – but despite the inconsequential impact of the weekend, he was still disappointed.

“I'm still pretty annoyed about the race,” he said. “I thought I did a really good job up until about lap 12-13, and then the end result wasn't great.

“So I'm a bit disappointed myself, but in the grand scheme of things, the championship’s won over 16 races, so we did a great job. I think we were consistent throughout the season, we were able to perform at our best when we were capable of winning, and that's what's important.”

While Rowland’s championship was already in the bag, his 11th place on Saturday and retirement on Sunday played a part in Nissan failing to overhaul Porsche in both the teams’ and manufacturers’ championships. It ultimately slipped to third in both, with Jaguar’s strong end to the season elevating it to second.

But despite admitting there was disappointment in the Nissan camp, Rowland was able to appreciate the bigger picture. He departed Nissan at the end of the 2020-21 season and spent a season-and-a-half with Mahindra before returning to Nissan last season, and the team has made massive progress since then.

“Two years ago, I was in a pretty tough place in my life and racing career, but I managed to come back to a place that I knew from my early years in Formula E. And they've given me all the tools, they've supported me really well.

“We've got a lot of tough competitors here and all these great teams. So I'm proud of what we've achieved, but hopefully this is just the beginning.”

“I think everybody's a bit disappointed, but I think we have to realize the journey we've been on,” he added. “When I left, we finished ninth in the teams’ championship, and we've come on this journey where last year I finished fourth in the drivers and we were fourth in the teams’; this year, first in the drivers’, third in the teams.

“Of course, this track didn't seem to suit us for performance. We improved a lot [on Sunday] – I just missed the duels by a fraction, and then the race was going quite well, and I was able to race well. 

“So they did a great job turning it around. But I had to go for it today because the Jaguars were at the front. We needed to try and score some big points to not lose second. And unfortunately, when you have an element of risk, sometimes there's no reward.”