The X44 team – named after Hamilton’s own racing number – will enter the series at the start of its inaugural season next year, fielding pairs of drivers in the five global races held in damaged and under threat environments of the arctic, desert, rainforest, glacier, and coastline. The team and other Extreme E competitors will pilot identical Odyssey 21 electric SUV racing cars, with success relying solely on the male-female driver pairings’ and their individual talent.
While the six-time F1 world champion will not be racing or involved in the daily running of the team, he will provide support from afar, using his experience in motorsport to guide its success.
“Extreme E is an exciting new sustainability initiative, and this is a great opportunity to be involved from the outset as a team founder. Of course, my ambitions and commitments with Mercedes in Formula 1 mean that I won’t be operationally involved in X44, but I’m excited to play a different role in this new series, one that brings my vision for a more sustainable and equal world to life,” said Hamilton.
“Extreme E really appealed to me because of its environmental focus. Every single one of us has the power to make a difference, and it means so much to me that I can use my love of racing, together with my love for our planet, to have a positive impact.
“Not only will we visit remote locations facing the front line of the climate crisis, we will also work closely with these locations and leading climate experts to share our knowledge and leave behind a positive legacy in each location which goes far beyond the race track.
“As Founder of X44, I am looking forward to building my team around important values such as sustainability and equality. None of us are perfect and we all have improvements to make, but I am excited to use our platform to highlight the most serious issues facing our planet and the solutions we can all be part of.”