Oliver Rowland has become Formula E World Champion after a Titanic battle with his rivals in the second race of the weekend at the Berlin E-Prix.
After dominating the 2024/2025 season, Oliver Rowland has won the Formula E title, becoming workld champion for the first time.
He has taken three pole positions, four wins and seven podiums this season, showing remarkable levels of consistency. This gave him a substantial advantage in the championship with four rounds to go.
Arriving in Berlin, Oliver Rowland required a 58 point advantage at the end of the weekend to be crowned World Champion.
In theory, his weekend Berlin should have been an easy one, wrapping up the championship with two rounds still to go.
Instead, Rowland has endured a challenging weekend at the Berlin E-Prix. In what could have been a straightforward run to becoming World Champion for the first time, he instead had to work for his title.
Saturday offered a glimpse of what was to come for his weekend. Lining up on the front row for the race after qualifying, he slipped back into the midfield during race.
Getting involved in incidents, he collided with Stoffel Vandoorne, the stewards awarding him a five-place grid drop for Sunday’s race.
He then crashed out in the closing stages of the race, while title rival Pascal Wehrlein finished second, keeping his slim hopes alive.
Frustrated from the previous day’s events, Rowland needed to feature at the top end of the timesheets for qualifying. Instead, he lined up eighth for the race, while Wehrlein took pole position.
The final showdown
Aggressive off the line, and in dry weather, Rowland had to tactically battle his way through the field to secure the title.
With the championship on the line, the Briton was not afraid of pulling dramatic moves on his rivals.
One such move saw Oliver Rowland go down the inside of two cars into turn six. However, it was enough to bring him back into contention.
After two Safety Cars, he opted to take his second Attack Mode in the closing stages. This allowed him to pull ahead of his rivals initially; this inspired strategy proving critical.
He was eventually caught by Nick Cassidy, and fell out of the podium places. But his dogged determination had done more than enough to win him the Formula E title for the first time.
While Rowland moved up the order slowly over the course of the race, Wehrlein’s efforts spectacularly unravelled.
He saw his pole position and opening first stint fall away as the midfield swallowed him. He ended the race down in 16th, his reign as World Champion over after less than 365 days, with Oliver Rowland inheriting his mantle.
