"Underdog, but on the hunt" - Oliver Rowland arrives in the championship fight after 2 more podiums in Berlin

Oliver Rowland and peloton racing - a success story that nobody expected before the start of the season. The Briton had already finished on the podium in Sao Paulo and celebrated his first win of the season in Misano. He has now added two more podiums at the German races in Berlin-Tempelhof. The Nissan driver is now right in the thick of Formula E's world championship battle - and has tasted blood.

"This type of racing is not pleasant as a racing driver, but it seems to suit me and is developing into one of my strengths," said Rowland in the press conference after Saturday's race. Laughing, he added: "If you look at it that way, of course, I like it."

His secret recipe for success in the so-called slipstream battles: "If you try to hold your position, then you become too cautious and you're basically thrown to the sharks. At the same time, it is sometimes necessary to risk a lot and even be over-aggressive," he explains. A middle way between a forward-facing attitude and the skill to keep the front wing intact at the right moment therefore seems to lead to success.

In both Berlin races, the Nissan driver started the race from positions outside the top 15 and therefore had to work his way through the field. "My plan was to get to the front particularly quickly and see if I could stay there," he says about his mindset before Saturday's race. This strategy changed slightly on Sunday when the race was shortened by two laps.

"Didn't know on the grid what I was going to do"

"When I was on the grid, I didn't know what I was going to do," he said after the race. "We had thought about using a similar strategy to Nick (Cassidy) the day before. In the end, I waited five laps. Then came the moment when the leaders no longer really wanted to lead and the race became very slow. I was able to make up a lot of positions and so got into the leading group without using much energy."

However, it didn't get any easier for him there, as he came up against two Jaguars, two Porsches and sometimes two Andretti cars at the front, who were helping each other. "I would have done exactly the same, but I was on my own. But everyone was very fair to me," said the 31-year-old. As a result, he was able to stay in the top positions in both races and crossed the finish line in third place twice.

All we can say is that this was an AMAZING race weekend ? @Nissan #NissanFormulaE #BerlinEPrix #FeelElectric pic.twitter.com/5oKQQz0UnH

- Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) May 14, 2024

"Underdog in the world championship fight" - pleases Rowland

Thanks to his strong performance in the races, the Briton is right in the thick of the championship battle. He is currently in third place in the overall standings, 22 points behind Nick Cassidy. "Neither the team nor I thought at the start of the season that we could really fight for the championship," he explains. "But now we are in such a good position that it would be crazy not to think about it. I'm in the hunt, but definitely an underdog, but I like that."

There are still two other race weekends to go before the title is actually at stake in London in mid-July - namely the double-headers in Shanghai and Portland. We expect slipstream battles there again - ideal conditions for Rowland?