Venturing into new territory, Lewis Hamilton has launched his new Extreme E team X44, which will contest the 2021 season of the new series.

A long-time advocate for action against the existential threat of climate change, Lewis Hamilton has entered the electric racing scene, announcing the Extreme E team ‘X44′. It will also be the Brit’s first foray into the world of team ownership, though he will expressly not occupy a management role, as he assures people that his commitments are still with Mercedes in F1.

The six-time world champion’s team will contest the revolutionary electric dirt racing series’ inaugural season in 2021 when its season kicks off this January at Senegal. One goal of Extreme E has been to shed light on the climate crisis, and this is an initiative Hamilton can certainly get behind.

“Extreme E is an exciting new sustainability initiative, and this is a great opportunity to be involved from the outset as a team founder,” said Hamilton. “Of course, my ambitions and commitments with Mercedes in F1 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.”

Hamilton will progress his motorsport career in the series, which he said his team will work with to “leave positive legacy in each location which goes far beyond the race track,” as he seeks to do his part to change the emerging pattern of increasingly extreme temperatures.

“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,” stated Hamilton.

“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 added, his newly-founded team’s name of course drawing inspiration from his F1 race number.

With the founding of X44, the 35-year-old, on his way to becoming the driver with most wins in F1, joins other internationally-recognized establishments joining the series, among them Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport from America.

The latter organization is also involved in Formula E – the series founded by the very man behind Extreme E: Alejandro Agag. The Spanish businessman welcomed with open arms 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.  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,” summed up Agag.

At this time, it is unclear for how long exactly X44 intends to stay involved in Extreme E. His drivers also have yet to be announced, but as per Extreme E’s regulations, both genders will be represented in the line-up of two.

The series will run E-SUV car named ODYSSEY 21, which is manufactured by Spark Racing Technology and can go from 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds, at gradients of up to 130 percent. The battery is produced by Williams Advanced Engineering and tyres by Continental Tyres.

As alluded above, X44 becomes the eighth team in Extreme E – the second from Britain – joining Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti United (USA), Abt and HWA (Germany), Techeetah (Indonesia), QEV Technologies (Spain) and fellow Veloce Racing.

Here’s more from Lewis Hamilton:

Here’s Hamilton and Wolff on the former’s pit issue in the Italian GP

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR