Hamilton Withdraws His Team From Extreme E Championship Despite Previous Success

Tuesday, 13 February 2024 at 03:00

Lewis Hamilton withdrew his X44 team from Extreme E competition, despite fighting for the championships in the first three seasons.

In 2021, a new racing series started, and many current and former F1 drivers have entered their teams. One of them was also Hamilton, who virtually extended his rivalry with former teammate Nico Rosberg, who also entered a team, but also Jenson Button.

And in the first three seasons of the new racing series, it looked like a continuation of that famous 2016 season. In the first-ever season, Rosberg's Rosberg X Racing, had the same amount of points as Hamilton's Team X44, and only the number of race wins decided the overall win for the German's team.

In the second season, Hamilton's Team X44 won be mere two points, and in 2023, it was again Rosberg's team that won the championship, while the British driver's team dropped to the worst-ever fourth place.

Now, ahead of the 2024 Extreme E season, Hamilton's team announced their departure from the racing series, with seemingly no future return in plans.

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"After three years as part of the Extreme E family, we’re today announcing that X44 will be departing the series. We’ve had an incredible three seasons competing as X44, winning multiple races and even a world championship."

The team thanked their three drivers, Cristina Gutierrez, Sebastien Loeb, and Fraser McConnell, who drove for the team over the past three seasons.

"Thank you to our drivers Cristina, Fraser and Seb, and all our talented teammates who worked hard to help us achieve everything we did."

But mostly, Hamilton's team was proud of including people from different backgrounds in their team, following the idea of Hamilton's "Racing for All" programme.

"Even more than the results on track, we’re proud to have been part of a bigger conversation about how to make motorsport more sustainable, of our success in giving people from all kinds of backgrounds an opportunity to thrive in this team, and of the legacy our team owner Lewis will leave behind with the Racing for All programme."