Oliver Rowland reveals collaboration with a sports therapist that provided him with a significant boost before and during the current FIA Formula E season, and expresses excitement about being the underdog of the championship.
The Nissan driver currently sits in third place in the drivers’ standings, just nine points behind Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis, after winning the first race of the double-header in Misano, only to be unfairly denied victory on Sunday due to a software malfunction.
In a press interview this week, Rowland stated: “Recalling events from twelve months ago is difficult – everything came back to the beginning,” he commented.
“The last two years have been extremely demanding, whether from a professional or psychological point of view, as I struggled to deal with the challenges I faced, especially during a crucial phase of my career where I still believed I had youth and experience, and deep down, I knew this was the opportune moment to achieve success.
“Undoubtedly, I made a significant leap by terminating my contract last year, which was not something I particularly desired.
“I believe we are still in a rebuilding phase within the team [Nissan], and that was the goal for this season – to lay the groundwork for the next season, when we will receive considerable improvements in order to truly strengthen the team.
“This year, I had a new performance engineer who had never played that role before, as well as a new inexperienced race engineer in that position, and we also had new members joining the team. So, the goal was to progress throughout the season, understand our package, and establish a working relationship. Therefore, I never expected to be in the position we currently find ourselves in, but it has been a pleasant surprise.
“It’s something I’m embracing and enjoying – I suppose I appreciate the struggle as the underdog that we are presenting.
“Initially, no one expected anyone other than Porsche and Jaguar to compete for the championship or wins in the races, so for us to be in the mix and consistently perform is extremely positive.
“It makes up for the difficulties I faced last year and the emotions I experienced.
“Mentally, it was incredibly challenging. Over the last six months, I have been working with a sports therapist, and I believe that has tremendously helped me regain my confidence and focus on the task at hand.”
Rowland also addressed the praise he and his team have received from other teams and drivers in recent weeks, with many acknowledging the skill of the Nissan package during the Misano weekend and considering them true title contenders. However, he states that he does not feel overwhelmed by the pressure as a result.
“We don’t feel any pressure because we have our own goals and targets set, and they remain unchanged.
“Before the Misano race, I had a conversation with my sports psychologist, where we discussed facing a completely different challenge and reaffirming our goals and targets.
“I was asked to list these goals, and I listed them. Although they have increased, they have not yet reached the level we are currently at. Therefore, for us, it’s about continuing our daily activities, race by race.
“I used to be quite pessimistic about our chances in these high-energy efficiency races, but after this weekend, I can no longer completely dismiss them. We were highly competitive, and now we have to acknowledge that we will be competing regularly. Our focus is on optimizing our performance and avoiding the mistakes we made on Sunday. However, I don’t feel any pressure from my side.”
“I am quite relaxed and approach each weekend with the intention of giving my best, knowing that we will achieve what we set out to do, regardless.”
Rowland also mentioned that, after a double-header weekend, returning to Monaco, where all the race schedule is condensed into a single day, he is excited to condense work that would normally take a full weekend into a shorter period of time.
“Actually, I think it will be a nice weekend because we don’t have FP1 on Friday. We can transfer all the work to Saturday, so even though there are more races in one day, the workload before that will be lighter. Thursday will be relatively empty, and Friday and Saturday will be the work days.”
“I don’t expect to feel much more fatigue. Interestingly, when I entered Formula E, everything was done in a single day, and as a rookie, I felt exhausted and drained after the weekend because it’s quite intense. You don’t have time to sit and reflect overnight.”
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