Extreme E: Meet Team X44 Founded by Lewis Hamilton

The team founded by six-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton is the last to join the electric SUV off-road racing series completing the grid of the 2021 inaugural campaign.

“Extreme E is an exciting new sustainability initiative, and this is a great opportunity to be involved from the outset as a team founder.

“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,” Hamilton said.

Extreme E will feature intense competition while raising awareness on climate change, competing in remote locations on the planet affected by the impacts of the climate crisis.

All race teams, including brand new X44, will use the same spec-vehicle, the E-SUV ODYSSEY 21.
Williams Advanced Engineering is producing the battery that powers the E-SUVs, while Spark Racing Technology is responsible for the design of the off-road, all-terrain, electric vehicles.

“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,” the Formula One race driver remarked.

On the commitment of racing with an environmental purpose, Hamilton added: “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.”

BEYOND RACING

The all-electric ODYSSEY 21 E-SUVs will travel onboard the Royal Mail Ship St Helena to five remote locations on the planet, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, Kangerlussuaq in Greenland, the Nepalese Himalayas, Al-‘Ula in Saudi Arabia, and Lac Rose in Senegal.

The RMS St. Helena will feature an oceanographic laboratory, allowing the independent Scientific Committee to do environmental research, a process that will be documented in a Netflix style series.

The first Extreme E, Legacy Programme project, has been established in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy’s Forest Restoration program in Pará, Brazil.

“We’ll be securing 100 hectares of existing forest, restoring 100 hectares of native forest, and will maintain more than 200 hectares of a cacao-based agroforestry program by working with 50 local smallholders. It is a fantastic first step along the legacy path for Extreme E,” explained Louisa Tholstrup, Extreme E’s Legacy Programme Leader.

The team X44 will be kicking off Season 1 in Lac Rose, Senegal in January 2021, alongside HWA, ABT Sportline, Veloce Racing, QEV Technologies, Andretti Motorsport, Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), and Team Techeetah.

“Of course, my ambitions and commitments with Mercedes in Formula One 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,” Hamilton concluded.

Watch Lewis Hamilton introducing his team X44.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lewis Hamilton and his X44 team to Extreme E. Like us, Lewis is hugely passionate about motorsport, but also shares our belief that we can use sport to highlight subjects which are vital to the world, such as climate change and equality,” stated Alejandro Agag, Founder, and CEO at Extreme E.

“Lewis is one of the most successful drivers of all time, and we’re all excited to see how his X44 team performs on and off the race track under his incredible guidance. A huge welcome to the Extreme E family Lewis!”

Images courtesy of Extreme E Media.