© Extreme E
Lewis Hamilton announced the creation of his own Extreme E electric off-road series team – X44! The new series will launch on January 23 – 24 2021 in Senegal.
This is the first time Hamilton has ventured into team ownership. The name of the team is (obviously) referencing the Briton’s racing number #44, that he has carried on his cars since 2014.
“Extreme E is an exciting new sustainability initiative, and this is a great opportunity to be involved from the outset as a team founder,” Hamilton said.
“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.
“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.
“It’s an exciting new project and it will be fun to have a different role from being the team driver,” Hamilton further explained.
“What is most appealing though, is that the Extreme E championship will be not only raising awareness of some of the most critical environmental issues facing our planet, but also doing something about it through working with local charitable organisations to leave behind no trace and a long-lasting legacy of change.
“I’m looking forward to the team taking part in this new series and I think it’s incredible that we can do so whilst raising awareness about the climate crisis,” concluded the Briton.
Judging by promotional images, the team will use Hamilton’s current purple and black helmet color scheme.
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Extreme E founder and CEO Alejandro Agag gave his comments on this major coup for the series.
“We are thrilled to welcome Lewis Hamilton and his X44 team to Extreme E,” Agag said.
“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.
“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.”
X44 will compete against reigning Formula E teams’ champion Techeetah, Abt, Andretti/United Autosports, Chip Ganassi Racing, HWA, QEV and Veloce.
The first five-round season for the series will launch on January 23 – 24 in Senegal.
Below you can watch a video of Hamilton introducing his new team.
Source: extreme-e.com
