How Lewis Hamilton Finally Agreed to Form His Own Motorsports Team

Lewis Hamilton has been bossing it in Formula 1 as a driver so far this season. But now, he is set to embark on a new parallel journey as team owner.

Few weeks back, the Brit driver launched a video as part of his team’s release campaign. The team named as “X44” will be taking part in this fascinating off-road racing series. And competition founder Alejandro Agag has spoken about how they convinced Lewis to get onboard.

Speaking in an interview, he is quoted as saying, “I’ve been asking Lewis for years if he wants to join me. Lewis is particularly interested in our legacy program. We are actively doing something for the environment with it. Lewis fights for diversity and equality. We also do that by having our teams consist of a man and a woman.” (translated from Google Translate)

Lewis Hamilton will take his SUV out for a drive

The series will happen somewhere in January. But, that would clash with the winter testing that generally takes place. So, Mercedes‘ Hamilton will not be a part of the Extreme E series.

However, as team owner, he will have the liberty of testing the car his team has built. He said, “They’ve done a lot of work in the background and we’ve had great conversations with Alejandro [Agag]. I honestly can’t wait. I’m going to get to drive my own car since I own the team. I think obviously drivers in the past were team owners here in Formula 1. I think that’s something really exciting.”

Extreme E, as a competition, involves two elements close to Hamilton’s heart – racing and environmental awareness. The five terrains’ tournament will start in Senegal somewhere around late January 2021.

It also seeks to promote gender quality, with series’ rules suggesting that competing teams should have a male and female driver each. Eight teams will battle it out in locations such as the Sahara Desert and the Indian Ocean.

In addition, the eight teams will have to undergo a race weekend as part of a tough qualifying format. The idea is to reach out to as many people about the consistent degradation of climate change. And Lewis Hamilton, much like his driving, is leading the charge here as well.