Oliver Rowland

Oliver Rowland (born 10 August 1992) is a British racing driver. He is currently competing full-time in the 2019-20 Formula E season driving for Nissan e.Dams.[1] 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.

Oliver Rowland
Rowland in 2012
Nationality	British
Born	10 August 1992 Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England
FIA Formula 2 Championship career
Debut season	2017
Car number	9
Former teams	DAMS
Starts	22
Wins	2
Podiums	10
Poles	1
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	3rd in 2017
Previous series
2015–16 2014–15 2012–13 2013 2011 2010–11	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
Formula E career
Debut season	2015–16
Current team	Nissan e.dams
Car number	22
Former teams	Mahindra
Starts	25
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	3
Poles	4
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	5th in 2019–20
Finished last season	5th (83 pts)

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] He also contested the Formula Renault UK Finals Series with the team, and comfortably won the championship with four race wins from six races.[6] Rowland was nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award due to his performances in the main series.[7] 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.[8] 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[9]

Formula Renault 3.5

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.[10]

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.[11]

Rowland won a test with Red Bull F1 at Silverstone for leading the series in 2015.[12]

Formula E

Rowland with Nissan

Rowland competed in the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix with Mahindra Racing, in place of Nick Heidfeld. He finished in 13th place.

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.[13]

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.[14] 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.

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.[15]

Formula One

In February 2016, Rowland was confirmed as a member of Renault's young driver program.[16]

In April 2017, Rowland was signed to the role of development driver to the Renault F1 team.[17]

In February 2018 Rowland was confirmed as Williams Martini Racing's official Junior Driver.[18]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	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	Fortec Motorsports	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
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	1	0	0	0	0	6	22nd
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
2021	Formula E	Nissan e.dams

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 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

^† 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	Pos	Points
2015–16	Mahindra Racing	Spark SRT01-e	Mahindra M2ELECTRO	BEI	PUT	PDE 13	BUE	MEX	LBH	PAR	BER	LON	LON				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
2021	Nissan e.dams	Spark SRT05e	Nissan IM02	DIR	DIR

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

Complete 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
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

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. Kalinauckas, Alex. "Oliver Rowland takes F1-bound Alexander Albon's Formula E drive". Autosport.com. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
2. "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.
3. "Thrilling Victory For Oliver Rowland At Pembrey". CRS Racing. CR Scuderia. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
4. "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.
5. "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.
6. "Rowland and Jiminez Takes the Titles". Renault Sport UK. Renault Sport. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
7. Turner, Kevin (6 October 2011). "McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award nominees for 2011 announced". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
8. O'Leary, Jamie (4 December 2011). "AUTOSPORT Awards McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC: Oliver Rowland". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
9. Simmons, Marcus. "McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner Oliver Rowland profile". Autosport.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
10. Arnau Viñals Vendrell, FormulaRapida.net "Rowland sings for Fortec Motorsport in Formula Renault 3.5 Series" "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Retrieved 21 October 2013.
11. http://www.racer.com/international-racing/item/122009-rowland-claims-title-as-orudzhev-wins
12. Mills, Peter. "FR3.5 leader Oliver Rowland to run Red Bull F1 car at Silverstone". Autosport.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
13. Mitchell, Scott (22 February 2017). "Rowland, Lynn set for Mexico Formula E duties". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
14. "Nissan e.dams confirms driver lineup for Formula E championship". 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
15. "DAMS reveal 2017 line up". 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
16. "Renault Sport Racing launches Renault Sport Academy". Renault Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
17. Kalinauckas, Alex. "Renault F1 team signs Oliver Rowland to development role for 2017". Autosport.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
18. "Oliver Rowland gets Williams F1 young driver role". formulascout.com. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

External links

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