Formula 1 stars 'would not be dominant in Formula E'

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Formula 1 superstars like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton wouldn't be able to dominate the all-electric Formula E championship in anything like the same way, according to Mahindra Racing driver Oliver Rowland.

The 30-year-old British driver has been competing in the series since 2018, having previously raced in Formula 2 with DAMS against the likes of Charles Leclerc, Nyck de Vries, Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi.

Rowland was also a development driver for Williams F1. While he never got the chance to follow his F2 rivals into F1, he believes that the quality of competition is as good if not better in Formula E and that standardised equipment means no one could ever dominate.

Read also: Andretti's Dennis wins first FE race of Gen3 era in Mexico City

"I don’t think you could put any F1 driver in Formula E where they would win easily,” Rowland told Total-Motorsport.com

"I think Max is the standout in F1 at the moment in terms of pace, talent and just natural ability," he said. "It’s easy to say when he’s winning.

"I rate the others highly, especially the younger guys like Charles and George [Russell], but they wouldn’t come here and dominate," he insisted.

"I know that - I’ve raced against them [in junior series] and I know their level," he pointed out. "I would say the average here is better [than F1]."

The Formula E grid is full of former F1 talent, with ex-McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne having claimed last year's title with the Mercedes EQ team.

Other former F1 drivers including Jean-Éric Vergne, Lucas di Grassi, Pascal Wehrlein and Sébastien Buemi have become mainstays of Formula E in recent years.

Nyck de Vries was series champion in 2021, lining himself up for a successful F1 bow at Monza last year that has now resulted in a full-time drive at AlphaTauri for 2023.

Rowland himself is a one-time E-Prix winner in 57 race starts, with a further five podium appearances. He finished out of the points in Saturday's season opener in Mexico City, which was won by Andretti's Jake Dennis.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.