F1’s Nico Rosberg launches Extreme E team

Formula One World Champion, Nico Rosberg, is launching a new team to join Extreme E next year.

The 2016 F1 World Champion will make his move to the new electric off-road racing series from 2021 with a new team, Rosberg Xtreme Racing (RXR).

The team will be an evolution of Team Rosberg, founded in 1994 by Nico’s father and 1982 F1 World Champion, Keke Rosberg. RXR builds on the team’s success in the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) as well as Nico Rosberg’s post-F1 career as an entrepreneur in the field of sustainable mobility.

Since retiring from Formula One, Rosberg has invested in numerous successful sustainability start-ups and is also an early investor and shareholder of the all-electric racing series Formula E.

In 2019, Rosberg founded the GREENTECH FESTIVAL, a global platform to showcase pioneering green technologies, as part of his commitment to offer disruptive solutions in the transition to a sustainable society.

Rosberg said: “The series represents an amazing opportunity to not only drive awareness but also inspire action in the fight against climate change – the single biggest threat to our planet today. Since retiring from F1 I have dedicated my career to sustainable technologies so to be able to combine these endeavours with my passion for racing is incredibly fulfilling.”

Alejandro Agag, Extreme E Founder and CEO, said: “We are ecstatic to finally announce that Rosberg Xtreme Racing will be joining our line-up for the first season of Extreme E. We have been talking about this project for many months and we are thrilled he has chosen Extreme E for his formal return to motorsport as Founder and CEO of his own racing team. There is clearly a great synergy between Nico’s endeavours in the sustainability field and the aims of Extreme E so his team is a hugely welcomed addition to the series.”

RXR is the ninth team to sign up to Extreme E, which goes racing in early 2021 in five remote locations; arctic, desert, rainforest, glacier, and coastal; which are already damaged or severely under threat of climate change from a range of serious issues including melting ice caps, deforestation, desertification and rising sea levels.

Teams will race an electric SUV named ODYSSEY 21, which can go from 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds, at gradients of up to 130 percent. It is manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, with a battery produced by Williams Advanced Engineering, a niobium-reinforced steel alloy tubular frame, and purpose built tyres, designed by Continental Tyres, which are the most extreme the company has ever produced.