Hamilton withdraws from race class as one-time team champion

After three seasons in the Extreme E, and winning the title in 2022, Lewis Hamilton has withdrew his X44 team from the championship ahead of the 2024 season.

The team was founded in 2020 ahead of the first season in 2021, with the series intending to raise awareness of climate change through hosting off-load races using electric SUVs.

Hamilton went up against his old F1 rival Nico Rosberg, who had his own team in Rosberg Racing, while legendary IndyCar team owners Andretti and Chip Ganassi also had teams in the first season.

The X44 team had a good run of results finishing second in the championship in their first year and taking the title the following year, but a poor run of form led to a P4 finish in the standings in 2023. Now the team has opted not to return for a fourth season.

“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," X44 said in a statement.

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

“Although we won’t be competing ourselves in 2024, we’ll be cheering on the series from the sidelines and keeping an eye on the exciting developments at Extreme H."