‘I Ruined Everything’ – How Oliver Rowland Turned a Career Meltdown into a World Title in Just 2 Years
Oliver Rowland secured the most dominant Formula E title in history in Berlin earlier this month and now he prepares to end the season with a home race in London
Oliver Rowland is Britain’s second Formula E world champion(Image: LAT Images for Formula E)
Oliver Rowland was having sleepless nights when he thought he committed career suicide just two years ago. But over this weekend he gets a world championship victory procession on home soil, as he steps out at Formula E’s season finale London E-Prix.
The lad from Barnsley, 32, secured the most dominant title win in FE history in Berlin earlier this month to become only Britain’s second all-electric world champ – and it came just two years after he quit the series altogether.
Unhappy and underperforming at Mahindra, Rowland made the brave decision to focus on his own wellbeing and ripped up his contract.
But after months of doubts over what he had done, Nissan – the team he drove for when he joined the series full-time in 2018 – offered an olive branch that he knew he had to take.
Rowland said: “The journey I have been on in the last two years is nothing short of crazy. It’s almost two years to the day since I was sat without a job, sleeping no more than three hours a night because I was so frightened at what I had done and of the situation I had put myself in.
Rowland and his team celebrate the Formula E title win(Image: LAT Images for Formula E)
“From a mental health perspective, I was in a pretty bad place, so to be in this position now, I feel pretty fortunate. I am trying to balance out the emotions because it’s highs, lows, coming back home, having a normal life again. It’s not a normal thing to navigate.
“I think by taking that risk and that punt in my career long term made me realise that I need to make sure that every small detail is done correctly on my side. I needed to really make the most of this opportunity because the reality was if it didn’t work, it was the last one.
“I’m quite a doubting guy. I’m always arriving at a race thinking I’m not going to be good enough, so I’m going to have to work really hard if I want to make the most of this opportunity.”
One of Rowland’s secret to successes has been his mentorship of Red Bull F1 wonderkid Arvid Lindblad. Rowland has guided the British-Swedish star since he was just seven.
Arvid Lindblad has been mentored by Oliver Rowland(Image: Getty)
Now a 17-year-old, he drove in FP1 at the recent British Grand Prix and as Lindblad continued to soar, Rowland knew he had to get his act into gear.
“This year is the perfect balance,” Rowland said. “I’m performing, he’s performing, we’re driving each other.
“When you set such a high level and you see somebody else you’re working so closely with, also setting a high level in a completely different area, you motivate each other, you build that trust between each other.
“If I’m advising him on to do this or to do that, but I’m finishing 20th every week, there’s less trust there.”
