Rowland rues ignored dry set-up instinct after Shanghai E-Prix setback

Rowland left counting cost of Shanghai call

Oliver Rowland has admitted he went against his own instinct before the second race of Formula E’s Shanghai double-header, revealing that his “gut feeling” was to choose a dry set-up before ultimately committing to a wet configuration.

That platform, however, did not convert into a major result. Rowland slipped to eighth, banking four points but losing ground in the championship as Pascal Wehrlein moved to the top of the standings. The outcome formed part of a dramatic Shanghai weekend in which strategy and conditions reshaped the competitive order, with more on the wider race picture available in our Shanghai E-Prix talking points.

Dry line punishes wet set-up choice

Drivers who had gambled from further back with dry set-ups suddenly came alive. Lucas di Grassi, Jean-Eric Vergne and Joel Eriksson were among those able to surge through the field and reach the podium, underlining how quickly the balance of the race had shifted.

Reflecting on Nissan’s inconsistent weekend, Rowland told RacingNews365: “FP2 was good, qualifying was bad, the race on Saturday in the dry was good, and then we were bad in the rain.”

He added: “Sunday morning we were probably better than expected in the wet, which was a good job by the team. Then we went with a full wet set-up for the race, but it just didn’t work, and other people took a punt.”

‘I should have followed it up’

Rowland also suggested energy use may have played a role in how the race unfolded, saying some rivals were “over-consuming” and could have faced trouble without the full-course yellow. Still, he accepted that eighth was a salvage result rather than the outcome that had been possible.

The most striking admission came when he was asked whether he had considered a dry set-up. Rowland replied: “It was my gut feeling because I knew the quantity of rain, and I should have followed it up, to be honest. But it’s easy to say in hindsight.”

Shanghai dropped Rowland to third in the standings, 27 points behind Wehrlein. On a weekend defined by fine margins, one set-up call may have turned a potential victory into damage limitation.