Jenson Button to drive in Extreme E for own team

Former Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button will compete in the new Extreme E racing series for his own team.

Button, 41, joins other high-profile names who have signed up for the climate-aware series, including seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton.

“I’ve followed Extreme E with great interest – what they have managed to create is nothing short of incredible,” Briton Button said.

The new series, set to begin in April next year, will see a male and a female driver compete for each of the 10 teams in off-road electric ‘E-SUVs’.

Button’s female driver in his JXBE team is set to be announced in the coming weeks.

The series aims to raise awareness in areas around the world affected by climate change and visit territories – arctic, desert, rainforest, glacier and coastal – which have been affected, such as Greenland and Brazil’s Amazon region.

Button, who won the 2009 F1 world championship for the Brawn team, said he was “both delighted and proud” to join the series.

“I caught the off-road bug a few years back and I absolutely loved it,” he added.

Who else is involved?
Button’s fellow Briton Hamilton recently announced he will enter his X44 team into the sport, as has his old Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg.

British female driver Jamie Chadwick has been selected as the female driver for the British Veloce team, who have F1 design legendAdrian Newey as part of their set-up.

“On track I’m delighted to say there are some world-class opponents to go wheel-to-wheel with,” added Button, who also drove for Williams, Benetton, Honda and McLaren in F1. “Extreme E is a world-first which sees true equality with male and female drivers both as team-mates and as opponents out on track.”

BBC