Former F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen has joined Jenson Button’s JBXE Extreme E team for the 2023 season alongside Hedda Hosas.
In an all-new line-up at JBXE, former F1 driver Kovalainen is to make his Extreme E debut in 2023 for Button’s team alongside Hosas who has been part of the set-up for some time now. The Finn is latest to join the series having Formula 1 background.
He has had rallying experience since departing F1 after years racing in Super GT in Japan. But this is the first time for him in an electric car. “I’m really excited to join JBXE in the Extreme E series in Saudi Arabia,” said Kovalainen. “It’s a great championship with great teams and drivers so I’m looking forward to competing with them.
“It’ll be something new again in my career. After my Formula One stint I’ve done GTs as well as some rallying and I’m always looking for new challenges and looking forward to giving this a try. It’ll be a steep learning curve no doubt but I’m up for it and hopefully we’ll get up to speed quickly.”
Teammate Hosas stated: “Super excited to be driving again for my second season with JBXE in Extreme E. To have the support and expertise of both Jenson and Heikki, two ex F1 drivers, will help me to continue my development as a driver.
“NEOM was my first ever race in the series when I stepped in as a reserve driver last year, so incredibly excited to be going back to where it started for me. I’m looking forward to working with my new team mate Heikki, he has a lot of experience from F1 to rally so I am sure he will adapt to Extreme E very quickly.”
Meanwhile, Button added: “Delighted to be announcing Heikki as our new male driver and also to have Hedda continue with the team! To bring such an established name from the world of motorsport and someone I had the pleasure of racing against in Formula One is brilliant for the team and the series.
“Following his move into the world of rally, it was a no brainer for the team to approach him and I’m over the moon he’s agreed to join the team and equally delighted to be keeping Hedda after she has continued to make great progress in the car, she fully deserves her place.”
Here’s the 2023 Extreme E line-up so far – includes : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Extreme_E_Championship
Here’s details of new calendar and race format for 2023: https://www.extreme-e.com/en/news/772_Extreme-E-reveals-supercharged-Season-3-sporting-format