Oliver Rowland only has effectively a one race lead in the Formula E title race but Jake Dennis believes that it could be lights out for the rest of the chasing pack already
Jake Dennis fears Oliver Rowland is already uncatchable just four races into the Formula E season. Barnsley racer Rowland has 17 points on McLaren’s rookie driver Taylor Barnard and almost 30 points on the rest of the chasing pack going into Saturday evening’s Miami E-Prix.
But while 25 points are awarded for race wins, 2023 world champion Dennis is already concerned that Rowland’s breakaway from the pack could mean lights out for everyone else. The Nissan powertrain – which is also used in Barnard’s McLaren – is clearly the fastest equipment on the grid and up to now, the Porsche equipment used in Dennis’ Andretti car hasn’t been able to match them.
“I think Oli’s the type of driver who will just take race by race,” Dennis said. “He’s very aggressive, but in a controlled manner. He’s smart when it comes to that type of racing. He’s the type of driver who will also accept a P3 if the car is only capable of third. If the win’s not on the cards, he won’t go for it, and it will be hard to make the difference to him now.
“I’m feeling confident that we can still win some races this year and if we’re in races, we’re going to close the gap. We’ll work hard to try and improve on that. But ultimately, Nissan are incredibly strong. They’re basically first and second in the constructors’ championship with McLaren.
“Barnard’s doing a really, really good job considering he’s a rookie. When Barnard gets a bit more experience, he’s only going to close the gap to Oliver right now.
“Oliver’s just making the difference because he’s very talented and got the experience for when to lead the race and when not, whereas Barnard doesn’t quite have that yet.”
Keeping a consistent level of result was Dennis’ key to success when he won his crown in 2023, but less than two years on, he believes the standard of Formula E has taken another step up, which makes Rowland’s early-season dominance so impressive.
“Back in season nine (2023), if I didn’t deliver the perfect lap or we weren’t quite the quickest, I’d probably still finish fourth,” Dennis said. “Whereas now, you can quite easily finish outside the points if that happens. There’s a big difference of how it used to be to what it is now.
“The level is so high now and anything can happen. I’m confident we can spin it around and try and close the championship fight, because we’re not even a quarter of the way through.
“I just want to try and be as quick as I can and try and help the team get back to where we were in season nine, which is obviously a very high level to achieve, but there’s no reason why we can’t.”
Formula E’s Miami E-Prix is live on ITV4 at 6pm on Saturday night.
