Rowland “would have found it hard to win” Mexico City E-Prix without late safety car

Oliver Rowland believes he “would have found it hard to win” the Mexico City E-Prix were it not for a late safety car followed by passing three cars in one lap for the lead.

The Nissan driver took his first Formula E victory of the season and his first at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit on Saturday, despite only leading the final six laps in a race dominated by Porsche drivers Antonio Felix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein.

The Briton was only fourth and several seconds behind da Costa and Wehrlein when he activated his final six minutes of Attack Mode just moments before a safety car was called for David Beckmann’s stranded Cupra Kiro.

A quick recovery meant Rowland still had just over a minute available when racing resumed with six laps remaining, and with those ahead having already used both Attack Modes, he dispatched Andretti’s Jake Dennis, Wehrlein and da Costa inside a lap to take an unexpected victory.

“I think in terms of the safety car there was an element of luck but I also lost nearly six minutes of Attack Mode,” said Rowland.

“But I do honestly think I would have found it hard to win without that safety car because I was struggling a little bit to be efficient after sort of 10 laps.

“We were there in the race to pick up the pieces with a little bit of luck.”

When asked what would have been possible if the first of two safety cars had not occurred, Rowland admitted that a podium was probably the maximum.

“I think it’s hard to say. I don’t have the exact numbers on energy,” he added.

“I think I would have got back to them [the top three], but I think had I passed them [with Attack mode] I would have consumed too much and struggled to maintain the lead is my gut feeling.

“I think my strategy at that point would have probably been to get to these guys and then consolidate a podium but then when I got the chance to go for it, I just went for it.”

Porsche locked out the front row for the first time in its Formula E history in Mexico, as reigning champion Wehrlein headed da Costa in the opening stages.

The pair led 26 of the 36 laps between themselves, with da Costa leading Wehrlein approaching lap 28 and the pivotal safety car period.

At the restart, the Portuguese driver defended from Rowland into the Turn 9/10 chicane and moved over to cover the inside into Turn 12 but was unable to prevent Rowland moving ahead with all-wheel-drive.

Antonio Felix da Costa TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team Porsche 99X Electric Gen3

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

“Oliver was very decisive. I defended hard and I think there wasn’t much space left and it’s always good to race him when it’s hard and fair like that,” said da Costa, who leads the championship standings for the first time since his title-winning campaign in 2019-20.

“I thought we had a 1-2 today for the team and then that safety car, I still have to go back and look at it.

“Maybe Oliver would have had enough to come back to the front or not, I guess we’ll never know, but it ruined our party a little bit.”