Last season’s fourth-placed Oliver Rowland believes the potential Attack Charge will change the strategy game in Formula E. He says that all drivers and teams will enter the unknown when the new initiative is confirmed for Season 11.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport Week, Rowland had his take on the brand new GEN3 Evo cars, which will debut in Season 11. The new cars have all-wheel drive and target much faster lap times than in previous generations. The teams will step into unknown territory, with a significant interest on how the cars will go on faster circuits, like the newly added Jeddah Corniche Circuit and Miami’s oval-and-infield track layout.
“I think on a push lap, obviously with the four-wheel drive and the extra grip, the cars are going to be a little bit more impressive”, the 32-year-old driver says. “In the races, honestly, at the moment, I can’t really say because I think there’s going to be a lot of variables dependent on if we finally have the Attack Charge, which I think we should.
“That’ll create a whole new strategic game in terms of how the races play out, where you want to be, what’s going on, you know, many, many different things, so I think right now I’m not entirely sure how the races are going to play out. I think for us it’s quite an unknown and I guess over the first five races, we’ll see the guys who kind of pick up the small tricks first.
“I think obviously with the four-wheel drive in the races, the Attack Modes will be more beneficial, whereas we’ve kind of seen sometimes this year that they’re not very effective anymore because of the small power increase, but also you lose kind of efficiency when you’re there, so I think there’s going to be a lot of elements to the race that will make it interesting.
“Obviously, we’ve got to get it right in terms of making the show good but if I’m completely honest, I’ve had a couple of months off. I’ve done a few development tests, but it’s not really something that I’ve spent that much time thinking about yet because we still got a bit of time before the first race, and I think with some of these things, you can kind of overthink them sometimes a little bit.”
The Attack Charge was proposed a few years ago and was given the go-ahead at last seasons Mexican E-Prix. However, problems occured and the it was delayed again. In April, The Race reported first that it wouldn’t be used until Formula E’s pre-season testing for Season 11 at Valencia. Because of the delays, some drivers and teams lost interest in this system, but Rowland seems to be fan of it.
“I think we’re ready for it. I think we’ve been ready for it for quite a long time, to be honest. I mean, not 100% ready, but I think we have everything in place to deal with it,” he says.
“I think positively last week when we were testing in Mallorca, the attack charge worked quite well, I think, on our side, which is a first and quite positive news heading into the season. So, yeah, we just need to make sure that it’s all reliable.
“You know, we don’t want to see teams or drivers losing races because of an issue in the pit stop. So, it has to run reliably and run well, and then I think it’ll be a good addition to the championship, to be honest, and an important part of formally moving forward.”
Last season, Rowland finished fourth in the Driver’s Standings. He won two races – the second one was the season finale at his home race in London – and ended up five more times on the podium. The Briton joined Nissan ahead of Season 10 and remains with the Japanese team for the upcoming season. He gets a new teammate with Norman Nato who raced for Nissan in Season 9 already.
