Oliver Rowland credits full course yellow for Mexico Formula E podium recovery: 'I was really angry' 

Reigning Formula E world champion Oliver Rowland credited the importance of a long full course yellow during the Mexico City E-Prix, after finding himself "really angry."

Rowland spent the first half of the second round of the season at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the midfield, in a typical attempt to preserve energy for a late-race push to the front.

The Nissan driver was working alongside eventual race winner Nick Cassidy before drama struck on Lap 18.

After activating his first attack mode, Rowland found himself on the grass upon entering the Turn 5/6 hairpin, after Antonio Felix da Costa, directly ahead, had to take evasive action to avoid a DS Penske car.

Da Costa’s late move triggered Rowland to go onto the grass — the only option to avoid a race-ending collision.

The incident infuriated Rowland, who lost multiple positions and the benefit of his first attack mode, as a stoppage for Nyck de Vries then triggered a long full course yellow, followed by a safety car a couple of laps later.

Crucially, as highlighted by the Briton, the race neutralisation gave him a chance to "calm down" before resetting and charging through the field to finish third.

"Yeah, I was lucky I stayed on," Rowland told RacingNews365. "I was really angry after that, to be honest. But we managed [to recover]. The full course yellow lasted a while, which was good for me, because I needed to calm down."

Asked where he thought he would finish immediately after the incident, Rowland replied: "Yeah, maybe just scraping the top 10."

Rowland’s title defence looking possible

The recovery by Rowland to a second podium of the season marked a continuation of a positive start to his title defence, with him sitting third in the standings and just six points adrift of Cassidy.

With 15 rounds to go, it remains very early in the title fight, but he already believes he will be in contention once again.

"I think we’re going to be there, but it’s so early to say," added Rowland. "Let’s wait till things start to settle down a little bit."

What São Paulo and Mexico City have proven is how close Formula E is this season, and that solid execution in both qualifying and the race is crucial. Rowland also believes improvement is needed by Nissan in all areas.

Asked if any lessons have been learned from the opening rounds for a title challenge, Rowland said: "No, I just think you need to be on it every weekend. You can't afford any mistakes.

"On Saturday morning, we weren't good enough. We need to improve a bit over one lap, a little bit in the race, a little bit in how we execute everything. Yeah, we just need to be a bit more on it."