Oliver Rowland is last year's Formula Renault 3.5 champion, a series where guys like Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen or even Robert Kubica came from to Formula 1. As he confuses, he is currently "third or fourth best British driver", what has been proved by Renault F1 Team that decided to sign him as a development driver. This year he is completing his first full season in GP2 series and he is planning to achieve something that anybody hasn't achieve before - to win the championship on the first try. He is currently sitting 5th in the standings but his gap to the championship leader is almost as small as the one that Lewis has up to Nico. So why won't he do it...?
Wojtek Paprota: Oliver, after 4 rounds of this year's GP2 series championship you are currently sitting 5th in the standing, with a small gap to the leader. How can you rate your performance so far this season?
Oliver Rowland: Obviously it is my first full year racing in this class and it has been pretty good. We know that we will be competitive after some one-offs starts that I did last year. We just need to keep improving as a team and myself, but I am pretty happy about my results so far.
Wojtek: I have been following GP2 series for many years and I think that apart from 2012 it is by far the most exciting season that I have ever seen and the battle for the title will be absolutely magnificent as many drivers are really close to each other and every time we have a different race winner, apart from Antonio and his double victory in Baku. Have you expected such a competition?
Oliver: If you look at the drivers in this year’s field, there is a mixture of young fresh drivers coming from Formula 3, GP3 or Formula Renault 3.5 and you also some who have been there for a while. You have guys like Lynn, Sirotkin and Evans, who is the most experienced one. I knew it was going to be tough, but I have to deal with it, do my job and improve myself race by race. Just do the best job possible.
Wojtek: You spent last two season in Formula Renault 3.5 what is now called Formula V8 3.5 and your results were pretty impressive - you finished 4th in your rookie season and became an peremptory champion last year. I think it is a sort of category that due to its a bit low publicity is pretty much considered as not that serious as GP2, GP3 or even European Formula 3, however, the cars are pretty similar to the ones from GP2. Do you think that this category is a bit underestimated by the people from motorsport?
Oliver: To be honest, no, I don’t. I think that Formula 3.5 is probably closer to Formula 1 than GP2 was probably 2 or 3 years ago. I disagree, even if the publicity is not that great as in GP2, what is F1’s supportive series. There were some races when we had 120 000 people at the grandstands and you see Vettel, Ricciardo, Magnussen and many more drivers who went straight from Formula 3.5 to F1. The car is pretty impressive and it is on the same level as GP2. Within Formula Renault 3.5 I could have been given a opportunity to go to Formula 1 but it didn’t come around so I had to make another step to GP2.
Wojtek: How useful it was for you to race there for 2 seasons? What have you learned there and why didn't you choose GP3 series for that part of your career?
Oliver: To be honest, in 2013 I did a Formula Renault 2.0 and when the season ended I tested 3.5 car in Barcelona and then I did GP3 in Abu Dhabi. The level in GP3 for the following season wasn’t looking so good. In Abu Dhabi I did full 3 days and me and my sponsors agreed that in order to take a bigger challenge it was better to choose Formula Renault 3.5, as simple as that. I had an opportunity to go to the ART team in GP3 but we also decided that going there straight from Formula Renault 2.0 would be too much different to that class. World Series was at the very high with Stevens, Merhi, Sainz, Gasly, Sirotkin - they were all doing Formula Renault 3.5 at that time so it was pretty hard challenge in 2014. That was one of the big decisions and I think that it turned out to be a good, as I knew a lot about how to drive a car with a lot downforce and as the tires are quite consistent during the race I was able to push pretty much all the time. To be honest the 3.5 car was the most intense car that I have ever driven. Now, GP2 is more step up, it has a bit more power, a lower downforce and the tires are slightly more tricky, there is a tricky approach. It was a fantastic series and 2 or 3 years ago even stronger than GP2.
Wojtek: Do you think that it is important to have a clear way towards GP2 or Formula 1 later on like you had, as you were only racing in various Formula Renault categories, or it is better to diversify it and switch from one series to another like, for example, Pascal Wehrlein did?
Oliver: I think you have to go where the best opportunities are. If you look for example at Pascal Wehrlein, in Formula 3 he had an opportunity to race in DTM, what is a professional racing category, where drivers are paid to race and that it is what we all try to do. Obviously he has done done a really good job in DTM. At some point it is important to have a clear path and I think it is something that is still not there. It seems that it is slightly more clear now to do GP3 and then GP2. So you got Formula Renault, Formula 3 and Formula 4 and for me there is now too many categories. Because of the cost of the motorsport you gotta quite spread out and you see categories with like 12-13 cars. For me it still needs to be more clear, like in motorcycles. After Moto Junior Championship drivers are doing Moto3, Moto2 and then they are reaching MotoGP. It is clear and there is no other way. In single seater categories everything needs to be really clarified.
Wojtek: The only series apart from Formula Renault campaign you did was a single start in Formula E in Punta del Este ePrix - what was all about and what are your impressions about this category?
Oliver: Mahindra offered me a drive. Nick Heidfeld was injured and as it was off-season, in December, so it was non problematic for me. If you look at the drivers in Formula E it is incredible. Outside Formula 1 it is probably the best. There is a lot of professional racing drivers there who were or probably could have been in Formula 1, so I thought „why now?”. I was pretty impressed. The circuits are very tight in Formula E so there is a different type of challenge than in Formula 1 and GP2. The whole weekend was a good fun, it was really relaxed atmosphere and if they keep going like this for the next few years, it will grow, grow and grow.
Wojtek: Recently Formula E has been added to the FIA's super license points system. I am not sure if you know but to get a super license that allows you to race in F1 you are obligated to collect 40 points throughout 3 consecutive seasons and for the victory in Formula E championship you are awarded with those 40 points, just like after winning GP2, IndyCar, WEC or European Formula 3. And my question is: Do you think that it may be considered as one of the steps towards Formula 1 or it is completely different kind of racing and a great place for the ex-F1 drivers like it is now?
Oliver: If you look at the Formula 1 calendar, it is very long and they are racing during the whole year, but if you look at DTM or WEC, there is not so many weekends so there is a lot of time to experiment and that is the perfect place for Formula E. They can do it as an extra program. I don’t see it at the path to Formula 1 and as you can see there is a lot of manufacturers coming up, like Mahindra, Renault, or Jaguar. All these manufacturers want top-line drivers. I see it as an electric Formula 1 what will obviously grow, grow and grow. It is really great and it is only going to be better and better because of technology. Things improve every year and now they started open things for manufacturers and that is a big change. I think it is quite exciting.
Wojtek: For many years you have been supported by Racing Steps Foundation that is probably the most-known racing foundation. Under what circumstances has this partnership begun?
Oliver: Since 2007 up to 2010 I was sponsored by McLaren. Then I was seen by the Foundation that wanted to have somebody at the decent level. They already had some good drivers like Calado and Turvey but they didn’t quite have anybody at the bottom level, so they were interested in doing some part-deal where I could race with them. I have taken a part in some one-off races and won Formula Renault 2.0 winter series, so they decided to sign a full-time contract. I have been always producing good results and been pushing hard so I think they had no doubt.
Wojtek: How this partnership works? What kind of benefits you have and, of course, what are your responsibilities towards the foundation?
Oliver: Foundation supports me funding vise. They give money for racing and that is the most important, key part. Apart from that they are also doing many other things. I got mentor coaches, we do a lot of physical training, what gives you all the tools required to be in Formula 1 apart from the actual car. It is pretty special what they do. Now my obligation to them is slightly less because I also have a Renault Formula 1 Team onboard. I do a lot more down there and I am a lot more involved there, with Renault. I also try to keep an eye on the young drivers within the foundation. Ben Barnicoat - I coached him a lot during last few years and I always they to be there when then need me I suppose.
Wojtek: Is that only Foundation who makes all the decisions about your career, for example, the category or the team you are going to race with, or you also have something to say?
Oliver: Certainly in my early days when I was in Formula Renault 2.0 they controlled everything. They had a path where I was going and what I was doing. Since probably 2-3 years now have more to say in what I do, since I told you about the GP3 and Formula 3.5 thing. I have my own opinion and I think they value it, because I tell them the truth. But I also have a lot of support from Derek Warwick. He supports me quite a lot, he is sort of a mentor and he is quite close with the Racing Steps Foundation. His opinion and what he thinks is really valued as well. This year we also have Renault on board so they are saying what they want me to do and where they want me to be. So in the early days it was pretty much only Foundation in terms of making decisions, but recently it is more interests from some other people and obviously it gets more complicated, but the more opinions and the more information you get, the better.
Wojtek: We are just before your home round at Silverstone - does it mean a lot for you to race in front of your homies?
Oliver: Definitely. Last year I got a call on Wednesday and I got an offer to race there with MP Motorsport, the team where I am racing now, and I took it. It was all pretty quick last year but it was fine. In the second race I finished 6th and I even passed Sirotkin and Vandoorne so that was pretty special. Then I won there in World Series. But this year is different because we arrive sitting 5th in the championship. We know we will be strong because we were fast there last year. All my friends and family arrive there as well and it is a pretty special occasion, because now I am one of the top Brits in GP2. There is 2 Brits, Jenson and Lewis in Formula 1 and then I suppose I am the third or fourth in the packing order, as I am in GP2. It will be pretty awesome to be there and see the crowd with my friends and family. I really want to make an impression and do the best I can.
Wojtek: What is your target for this season?
Oliver: When I started the season, I thought that the target was the top3. This was quite a bit challenge because MP Motorsport in the previews years hasn’t been in shape to fight for the championships and wins. They didn’t have a consistent run of results so it was really difficult to know if we would be competitive. In the testing it wasn’t fantastic but recently we made some really good improvements. I am getting better all the time and sitting 12 points off the championship lead, I have changed my expectations and now I am going for the championship. We need to find a little bit of pace but I want to go there and I want to win GP2 in my first year. I think that to get into the Formula 1 now you have to do something special and if I was to do it in my first year with MP Motorsport, it would be pretty special indeed.
Wojtek: When do you expect yourself to win your first race in GP2 series? Personally, I think that it will happen this season.
Oliver: Hopefully this weekend. It would be a story written if I could arrive to Silverstone and win. Again I want to go there and score big points, but sooner or later I will win a race. In Austria I finished second so it was already close. In Monaco I was very close to win a feature race but Markelov had this strange situation with virtual safety car and I nearly passed Nato. We have been pretty close in Baku as well, I was leading a second race but I got hit in turn one and retired. We have already shown that we are strong so I am sure it will not take us a lot of time.
Wojtek: As you mentioned, you are part of Renault’s academy for your drivers. How it is all going? Will we see you going in Friday’s practice one day, like they did with Sirotkin?
Oliver: Obviously as I have driven a lot of cars in Renault’s Formulas for many years, 2.0 and 3.5 so they decided it is good to have me onboard. I already do a lot of simulator work and Formula 1 preparation for them. Fred Vasseur is in charge and they believe in young talents so I like to think that they will trust me and give me the opportunity to get into Formula 1, but first I need to prove myself and I need to win GP2, so right now I am only thinking about GP2. Already they did a lot for me and it is fantastic and I believe we can have a long relationship for many many years. If it is not in Formula 1, there is also a lot of place in Formula E or the other things like that. I joined Renault family and hopefully I will continue with them. When it comes to Friday’s practice it is quite clear from Renault that I need to focus on GP2 and I don’t have any plans at the moment to do a free practice. They already said that they want me to concentrate 100% on GP2 and while I am doing first practice, I am not focused on GP2.
