WRC legend Loeb to race Lewis Hamilton’s Extreme E entry

Extreme E and Lewis Hamilton’s X44 race team announced that nine-time World Rally Championship champion Sebastien Loeb and Dakar Rally trailblazer Cristina Gutierrez will drive for team founder Hamilton in the inaugural 2021 season.

Loeb, 46, who won the WRC title every year from 2004 through 2012, should bring eyeballs to the new all-electric off-road series and help further the series’ missions of showcasing electric-vehicle technology and bringing awareness to humans’ affect on the planet and climate.

“Joining team X44 is an opportunity for me to continue to do what I love, which is race, and I’m looking forward to competing in an electric vehicle,” Loeb said. “I had the chance to drive the car recently and it is incredible. Cristina is a fantastic driver and I can’t wait to partner with her and see what we can achieve together. I am really impressed by what Lewis is doing in Formula 1 too, so to be able to work with him on this is an honor.”

In 2017, Gutierrez, 29, became the first Spanish woman to finish the Dakar Rally in the car category. She has finished the race four times.

“I am really excited to join X44,” Gutierrez said. “Not only will we get the opportunity to raise awareness of the climate crisis, which is very important to me, but I get to work with two heroes of mine. Sébastien Loeb is the most incredible rally driver of all time so I’m really happy that I get to partner with him and I hope to learn a lot. I’m a huge Formula 1 fan and have been watching Lewis race for years, so being asked to join his team is a dream come true. I drove in the car for the first time recently and it was such a great experience, I can’t wait to see what it can do at each race.”