This year’s Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland will replace the injured Nick Heidfeld at Mahindra for the 3rd round of the 2015/16 FIA Formula E season, to be held at Punta del Este.
After an incident in the previous round in Malaysia, Heidfeld is still recovering from surgery to his hand, but unfortunately for the former F1 driver the wound isn’t fully healed, forcing the German onto the sidelines.
On his official Facebook page, Heidfeld wrote,
“Unfortunately I will have to miss my next Formula E race with Mahindra racing in Uruguay. I damaged a ligament in my left hand during the previous race in Malaysia.This occurred when the steering wheel snapped out of my left hand while applying force through an unusual high amount of opposite lock to it. At first I assumed it was only something minor and some ice to cool it would be enough. but next morning it was worse and for safety I had it checked and subsequently had my wrist operated in Zürich as soon as possible.”
The Mahindra driver also expressed his sadness that the “dropped scores” system, which discounted the worst result of the season for each driver, is not in effect this season, hence every race will contribute to the championship.
“It sucks, even more after I learned that all race results count for Championship classification and not like last season where the worst result did not count; and Punta del Este being one of the best tracks.
Nevertheless, I hope for Mahindra Racing to have a great race and I know they will keep the good work up so that we can continue to be on the pace when I will be back for the remaining races.”
After a record-breaking Formula Renault 3.5 season with eight wins, it is unsurprising that Mahindra are willing to put faith in the young superstar from Sheffield. Rowland will take part in simulator sessions with the team before heading out to Uruguay in two weeks time.
Speaking to AUTOSPORT, the 23-year-old stated,
“After a successful year, I am excited to have this opportunity to extend my season further and race the M2Electro.
“Formula E gained huge traction in the first season. It has one of the most competitive driver line-ups and I am looking forward to some close racing among them and I hope to show what I can do.
“It will be a steep learning curve to get to grips with the new electric racing technology, but I’m sure that once the visor goes down, we will have some fun.
“I intend to make the most of this opportunity and extract the maximum out of the car.
“Thank you to Mahindra Racing for the opportunity and I wish Nick Heidfeld a quick recovery.”
Rowland will be participating in the official Formula E test following the Punta del Este, helping to develop the Mahindra M2Electro, off the back of testing with GP2 teams such as Prema, DAMS and champions ART.
Rowland is no stranger to racing on street circuits having produced one of the drives of the season to recover from an incident with Matthieu Vaxivière and passing 6 cars around the tight Monaco circuit to claim a valiant 6th place.
