Rowland addresses Formula E race cancellation fears

Oliver Rowland has addressed fears that Formula E races could be cancelled this season, should wet weather be at play. 

Wet weather has, bizarrely, never been a huge factor for FE, with only a handful of races having ever encountered a gloomy sky. 

However, back at the season-opener in São Paulo, a staggering pre-weekend shower raised concerns over racing in wet conditions using the new Hankook tyres for the Gen3 EVO. 

Hankook's new tyre is softer than what was used the past two years, making it a compound which offers better short-term performance but more challenges over a race distance. 

An issue with the new compound is minimal grip in the wet, which led to Mitch Evans, Nick Cassidy and Sam Bird raising concerns to RacingNews365.

In Mexico City last weekend, wet weather was again a talking point following overnight rain which resulted in a damp second practice. 

Several drivers complained of zero grip and running in the session being a waste of time, raising further concerns of what would actually happen should a race be declared wet this season.

For Rowland, the Mexico City winner is a fan of wet conditions but explained his views on why the new tyres are so much more difficult on slippery surfaces. 

"My stance on this has always been quite clear but the tyres are the same for everybody, so everybody has the same thing to deal with," Rowland told RacingNews365. 

"Are they tricky? Yes, there's no doubt about it. You're missing a lot of lap time. But when I was younger, I loved nothing more than a downpour on slicks when I was karting. So for me, I don't want to moan too much about how the tyres are. 

"Of course, we have an all-weather tyre that has to suit both conditions and part of the thing this year, obviously, in having a more performing tyre is it makes it worse in the races. 

"I think it is because the temperature operating window is probably a little bit higher with these new tyres, when they can't get at the right temperature at all, they're just not working on the construction of the tyre which means that they're probably a little bit stiffer, a little bit harder to drive, and I think that's the main issue with the tyres."

'Sketchy' start

What was notable in the wet second practice last weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, was how far off the pace the lap times initially were. 

The initial lap times were a damning 25 seconds slower than what was set during the dry first practice, although did improve to be only 15 seconds down by the end of FP2. 

Rowland enjoyed experiencing the new car with the new tyres in the wet, although conceded that the start of the session was "sketchy". 

This is perhaps the biggest concern regarding wet weather, what would happen with 22 drivers going into the first corner of a wet race with no grip?

"Honestly, from my perspective, I quite enjoy those like super slippery conditions, where it's extremely challenging," added Rowland. "I think obviously, in FP2, we got a chance to drive quite a lot. 

"And yes, in the beginning it was difficult, but once we made a few changes, I think we were by the end of FP2 only 15 seconds off, which is not terrible. 

"It's still a little bit sketchy in the beginning, we were more like 25 seconds off but I don't think it was absolutely terrible, let's say. 

"And I think, if it does happen, I think again, the wet is always a great equaliser in terms of driving skill and that sort of stuff. So I'm a big fan for it."