Attack mode ‘gimmick’ proves its worth as Oliver Rowland storms to Formula E win
Drive of the month, January 2025: we’re among Formula E’s leading pack – with Oliver Rowland and attack mode
Nissan’s Oliver Rowland ran riot through the Mexico City ePrix frontrunners.
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Oliver Rowland Formula E, Mexico City 11/1/25
Oliver Rowland had 80sec to capitalise on the strategic advantage that had fallen his way – and it’s fair to say the Barnsley-born 32-year-old made the most of it. Within a mile of racing resuming following a safety car, Rowland had passed three Formula E champions to claim his fourth career victory in the electric-powered single-seater series, and now looks well-placed to mount a genuine challenge for the world title.
His power and grip advantage was vital. In this advent of the faster Gen 3 Evo era, the mandatory attack mode gimmick that drivers must trigger twice per race not only adds 50kW of power for an allocated time, but also a new all-wheel drive capability. It can be hugely significant.
But let’s give Rowland his due here: he still had to use it without clattering into one of his rivals, on a truncated and uninspiringly tight version of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez that Formula 1 also visits.
It’s Rowland’s fourth Formula E victory
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From fourth on the grid, Rowland yo-yoed up and down the top six, then found himself back where he started as the race approached its closing stages. His Nissan team had saved his second dose of attack mode where dominant Porsche duo António Félix da Costa and reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein, plus Andretti’s 2023 champion Jake Dennis, had spent theirs. But when the safety car was called upon to clear David Beckmann’s Cupra Kiro entry, Rowland groaned. Not again. He’d lost a likely victory at round one in São Paulo through no fault of his own in similar circumstances and now his six minutes of attack mode looked set to be wasted.
But the officials worked fast to clear Beckmann. That’s why, on lap 31 of 36, Rowland still had some of his edge in hand. Yes, the cards were stacked in his favour, but it was a great lap nonetheless. He tore past Dennis into Turn 1, pulled an assertive dive on Wehrlein at the hairpin, then relieved da Costa of the lead on the way into the Foro Sol baseball stadium, where most of the 40,000-strong race day crowd was watching. Without attack mode, they would have witnessed a procession.