One of the weirder rivalries in Formula 1 ended rather abruptly when Nico Rosberg quit at the top, retiring from being Lewis Hamilton’s somewhat stressy teammate for the illustrious job of vlogging. Now it’s back, just in ExtremeE all-electric off-road racing.
Rosberg is now the second former F1 champ to head a team in Extreme E, as Inside Electr⚡c reports:
Rosberg will be the second F1 World Champion to compete in Extreme E, with ex-Mercedes AMG F1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton announcing his entry, ‘Team X44’ last month.
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“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.”
Rosberg is no stranger to investing his time and energy into sustainable start-ups. He founded GREENTECH FESTIVAL, a global platform to showcase pioneering green technologies, and is an investor and shareholder in Formula E.
Rosberg made his announcement on YouTube, which makes sense because Rosberg is something of a YouTuber these days.
The series is due to start next year and will feature electric buggies running in remote locations, in part to raise awareness of climate change’s effects in those areas.
Rosberg’s car is rendered above. The biggest sponsor logo I can see is for a yacht company, which seems fun.
I am……….. extremely jazzed about the Hamilton vs Rosberg dynamic coming to Extreme E. The series has a ton of potential, and I want to see it grow. It would be rude to say that it could use Hamilton and Rosberg vying as team owners, and it would be worse to say that Extreme E needs all the help it can get, but I want the series to have as many legs up as possible. Again, it’s a neat racing series idea, putting electric cars out in the desert, as far away from suburban and office-park infrastructure where EVs are kind of in their element.
I certainly hope that Rosberg’s new time commitment to this new team for an upcoming series won’t unduly pull him away from his excellent new career pivot to being a YouTuber.