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Feature by Katy Fairman
Oliver Rowland became the 10th different champ from all 11 seasons, and did so through a dominant run of form across the new GEN3 Evo era. Despite his four wins and seven podiums across his 2024/25 campaign, there were still low moments for the newly-crowned champion including penalties for power overuse in São Paulo which cost him a chance at the win, a challenging climb up the field in Miami and even a retirement in Round 13.
Coming into today’s race, Rowland also needed to serve a five-place penalty after causing a collision with Stoffel Vandoorne (Maserati MSG Racing) yesterday, which placed him eighth on today’s Tempelhof starting grid.
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From there, he embraced the elbows-out racing he is known for, and managed to secure a fourth place finish. His biggest threat to the title, TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein, started first with the Julius Baer Pole Position and looked untouchable all weekend. It would be a big task, but a surprising strategy call from Porsche when it came to ATTACK MODE and lack of pace later on in the race saw Wehrlien tumble down the order and eventually finish 16th – guaranteeing Rowland the championship.
“I was hoping before the weekend that the outcome could be [the World Championship], but after yesterday and this morning I was more worried that it might never come.
“I wasn't aware of where Pascal was at all. My engineer came on, I think with four or five laps to go and said ‘P4, is good’ and I thought that's a bit weird. Then I looked at the TV screen, and I got to about eighth and I thought ‘oh, he's not in the top eight then’. The next time I came around looking again I found him when I started from the bottom.
“I didn't know if he'd had a problem, so then I was aware that fourth would be enough if Wehrlien didn't score, so I knew that myself. I didn't want to ask, because I didn't want to jinx anything.”
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Rowland’s Formula E career has been an interesting one, with the Yorkshireman making his one-off debut in Season 2 at Punta del Este for Mahindra Racing. He found his way back to the all-electric championship for Season 5 with Nissan before returning to Mahindra in Season 8.
However, things didn’t work out at the team, and he found himself mutually agreeing to part ways mid-way through the season. With no other offers of work, he thought his time in Formula E could be over but Nissan got back in touch and brought him in from Season 9 onwards.
Since then, Rowland and the Japanese manufacturer have been on a trajectory and gone from strength to strength and now have the silverware to prove it.
“I took a huge risk for my career and for my family because my contract is what keeps us all fed and watered, so walking away from that was a really, really tough period in my life.
“I remember not sleeping for like, two, three weeks at some point. To kind of write the story and come out on the other side with the team that I started in Formula E with is just perfect.
“As a racing driver, a lot of days are bad and you have to keep believing in yourself that you're capable of doing it. Going into this year, I was confident that we would have a good chance.
“But, if you go back to Punta del Este, I remember having no idea about anything when I arrived and leaving thinking, ‘I'm not sure I want to do that again, because it was pretty tough’. The moment I arrived in the championship and looking at the caliber of drivers here, and the previous world champions, it's such a good achievement to be World Champion for me and to be part of that is incredible.”
There’s still two rounds of the season to go for Rowland, with Nissan also in the race for the Teams’ and Manufacturers' trophy in London. It’s a circuit that Rowland won at last year, and there’s no doubt that he’ll be trying to replicate it as the champion later this month.
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