Fenestraz praises ex-Formula E team-mate Rowland: "At his best easily on a par with Verstappen"

Oliver Rowland is one of the strongest racing drivers in Formula E. By the means of his former Nissan team-mate Sacha Fenestraz, the Briton is even on a par with Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen. For his part, the Dutchman recently regretted not being able to compete against Rowland in F1.

After a decent debut season in Formula E, Sacha Fenestraz was clearly shown the limits this year - by his team-mate Oliver Rowland. The then 31-year-old had returned to Nissan before the 2024 season and beat youngster Fenestraz by a clear 156 to 26 points. Fenestraz believes that this was one of the reasons why he had to leave Nissan early despite a three-year contract.

"I came into the season saying to myself: 'I want to be the leader of the team, I want to beat him.' But I think it was unrealistic because we are talking about Rowland, who was in his seventh season in Formula E," explained the Franco-Argentinian to Motorsport.com. "For me it was only my second season. And me, at 24 years old (at the time), I don't have the same experience as a driver like him."

Verstappen would obviously like to compete with Rowland

If you take a closer look at Formula E, all the drivers at the top have been in the series for years and have a lot of experience, says Fenestraz. "And also, Oliver at his best is easily on a par with Verstappen," he says, offering the highest possible praise in motorsport for his former garage neighbour.

This is allegedly also the image Verstappen himself has of Rowland: "He's very good friends with Verstappen and this year Verstappen was telling Oliver that it's a pity he's not in Formula 1 because he'd be overshadowing him, so people inside motorsport know the potential he has."

Whether Rowland could actually compete at the top of Formula 1 is likely to remain a pipe dream. He did get the opportunity to take part in official F1 test drives for the Renault team in 2017 - Rowland was a promising young driver at the time and part of the Renault young driver programme.

However, the tests did not lead to a permanent entry into Formula 1. Now 32 years old, Rowland has found his motorsport home in Formula E and wants to do even better in the coming season than in the 2023 season, which he completed with two victories in fourth place overall.