Vancouver’s Vida Carbon named title partner of Lewis Hamilton's Extreme E team

Vancouver motorsports fans needed something to cheer for after the abrupt cancellation earlier this year of the city’s planned Formula E race. Today, they got it in a partnership between the most decorated Formula 1 driver of all time and a local investment firm. Aside from being the key cog in Mercedes’ Formula 1 outfit, Lewis Hamilton helms an Extreme E team: an international off-road racing series that uses electric SUVs to compete in the most remote parts of the world, such as the Saudi Arabian desert or the Arctic. In a partnership with Vancouver-based Vida Carbon, Hamilton’s team will now be known as X44 Vida Carbon Racing.

Drive to survive (in a world facing climate change): With all due respect to motorsport, the main focus here is climate change. This new partnership aims to bring awareness to global warming and positively impact the future of the planet. It’s core to the work that Vida Carbon does. The investment firm supports global carbon credit programs by providing upfront capital to carbon project developers, in exchange for a percentage of credits generated. Now with this title partnership, the X44 Vida Carbon Racing team will bring attention to Vida Carbon's forward-thinking strategies.

Radio chatter: "Around the world, we are all feeling the direct impacts of climate change,” said Jamie Keech, executive chairman at Vida Carbon, in a release. “Traditional motorsports have long been associated with having a negative impact on the environment, and though many series are taking encouraging steps towards a more sustainable future, Extreme E is unique in the way it approaches this issue. Our partnership with X44 is proof that sustainable practices and a net zero future are possible. Vida Carbon and X44 are working towards that future."

"We are very pleased to have Vida Carbon alongside us as we continue our journey in Extreme E,” said Sébastien Loeb, nine-time World Rally champion and driver at X44 Vida Carbon Racing. “Although there's nothing we love more than a first-place podium, our team is about so much more than just racing. X44 Vida Carbon Racing's goal is to encourage our fans to take small steps together to have a positive impact on the planet, and a partner like Vida Carbon means we can do just that."

Pole position: The X44 Vida Carbon Racing team is in just its second Extreme E campaign. Named with reference to the number that adorns Hamilton’s Formula 1 car, X44 ended that first season with a first-place finish in the Jurassic X-Prix and a second-place finish in the Championship. Walking the climate change talk, it also won the series' inaugural 2021 Sustainability Award, which rewards teams who drive the most fans to commit to steps that contribute toward a greener future. The title partnership will be in effect from Round Four of the Extreme E season, meaning Vancouver racing enthusiasts will see X44 Vida Carbon Racing in action for the first time on September 24 in the copper-rich mountains of Chile.