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Lewis Hamilton forms team to race in Extreme E electric SUV series

Lewis Hamilton has formed a team to compete in the Extreme E Series, the environmentally conscious series that will race 550-horsepower electric SUVs next year.

The circuit will compete around the world in five locations threatened by climate change.

Hamilton’s team will be X44, a reference to the six-time Formula One champion’s Mercedes.

“Extreme E is an exciting new sustainability initiative, and this is a great opportunity to be involved from the outset as a team founder,” Hamilton said in a series release.

“Of course, my ambitions and commitments with Mercedes in Formula One mean that I won’t be operationally involved in X44, but I’m excited to play a different role in this new series, one that brings my vision for a more sustainable and equal world to life.

“Extreme E really appealed to me because of its environmental focus. Every single one of us has the power to make

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Hamilton explains stewards visit during Italian GP red flag



a close up of a street: Hamilton explains stewards visit during Italian GP

© LAT Images
Hamilton explains stewards visit during Italian GP

Lewis Hamilton visited the Formula 1 race stewards during the red flag period in the Italian Grand Prix to understand why he had received a 10-second stop/go penalty.

In a chain of events that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff described as “weird”, Hamilton was penalised after entering the pit lane while it was closed during Sunday’s race at Monza, costing him the lead and dropping him to the back of the field.

The pit lane was closed shortly after the safety car was deployed so that marshals could push Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas from the exit of the final corner back towards the garages.

Wolff explained that Mercedes only became aware the pit lane was closed just as Hamilton arrived at the pit entry, with Hamilton himself missing two boards denoting he should not enter the pits.

The stewards confirmed

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Hamilton launches X44 race team to contest maiden Extreme E season – Formula E

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has launched his own motorsport team – X44 – which will contest the maiden Extreme E season in a major coup for the electric off-road series.

The move marks Hamilton’s first role in team ownership, with the squad’s X44 name referencing the #44 race number that the Mercedes grand prix driver has carried in F1 since 2014.

Hamilton will not race for his own team, with X44’s driver pairing – one female and one male, as mandated by XE’s rules – yet to be announced.

Hamilton said: “It’s an exciting new project and it will be fun to have a different role from being the team driver.

“What is most appealing though, is that the Extreme E championship will be not only raising awareness of some of the most critical environmental issues facing our planet, but also doing something about it through working with

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Hamilton: Gasly winning F1 Italian GP has “got to hurt” Red Bull – F1

Lewis Hamilton says Pierre Gasly’s Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix victory has “got to hurt” Red Bull following his demotion from the team last year.

Gasly scored a shock maiden grand prix victory at Monza on Sunday after capitalising on a red flag stoppage and a penalty for Hamilton to move to the front of the order.

The AlphaTauri driver faced late pressure from McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr, but held on to win the race by 0.4 seconds.

It marked the latest major landmark in Gasly’s career since he returned to the Faenza-based F1 operation following a 12-race stint with Red Bull’s senior team in 2019.

Gasly scored his first F1 podium for Toro Rosso in Brazil last year ahead of its rebranding, and sits just five points behind his Red Bull replacement, Alexander Albon, in the drivers’ standings.

Six-time world champion Hamilton was quick to congratulate Gasly on his

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F1 Italian GP: Hamilton heads Monza second practice from Bottas – F1

Lewis Hamilton topped second practice for Formula 1’s 2020 Italian Grand Prix at Monza ahead of Valtteri Bottas, while Daniel Ricciardo lost third to a track limits violation.

Ricciardo’s loss for running too wide at the exit of the Parabolica meant Lando Norris finished third despite missing much of the middle part of the session as McLaren investigated a possible power unit problem, ahead of Pierre Gasly and Max Verstappen.

Under cloudless skies at Monza – where ever more Ferrari banners were being unfurled in the empty main grandstand opposite the team’s garage during FP2 – the second 90-minute session got off to a low-key start before Kimi Raikkonen emerged in his Alfa Romeo.

The 2007 world champion, who at one stage in the early running held a wild snap of oversteer as he exited the second, set the initial benchmark at 1m22.959s on the medium rubber, before he was

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Hamilton fears repeat of qualifying traffic “nightmare” for Italian GP – F1

Lewis Hamilton fears there will be a repeat of the traffic “nightmare” from 2019 in qualifying at Monza tomorrow, with drivers bunching up in an effort to get a tow.

Last year the top 10 runners slowed each other to such an extent that only McLaren driver Carlos Sainz was able to get round in time to start his final lap in Q3.

Today FIA race director Michael Masi issued a warning about drivers running too slowly, and indicated that there would be a minimum out lap time in FP3 and qualifying in an effort to encourage drivers to get a move on.

“It was difficult in the past, and obviously we didn’t even get to do the last lap last year,” said Hamilton.

“It’s going to be interesting – I heard they might put in a minimum time that we have to do an out lap, maybe that will

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Hamilton hopes ‘something positive’ comes up for Vettel in 2021 – F1

Lewis Hamilton says the way Formula 1 rival Sebastian Vettel has handled his pending Ferrari exit proves strength of character, hoping “something really positive” comes up for him in 2021.

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Vettel will leave Ferrari at the end of the year after the team opted against renewing his contract beyond the end of the season.

Vettel is currently without a drive for next year, but is known to be in talks with Racing Point over a drive for 2021, when it will be rebranded as Aston Martin.

Six-time world champion Hamilton had previously not been drawn on Vettel’s future, but praised the Ferrari driver for his resolve amid struggles with Ferrari’s SF1000 car.

“I’ve made comments in the past, but I saw the difficult race he had had previously [at Silverstone], and all I can try to do is empathise with the position he’s in and

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Hamilton feels ‘weight’ of 2020 events, broke down at news of Boseman’s death – F1

Lewis Hamilton says he feels “a lot of weight on my heart” from off-track events in 2020, revealing he “broke down” at news of Chadwick Boseman’s death on Saturday.

The death of Boseman, a leading actor and star of black superhero film Black Panther, sparked an outpouring of tributes from across the world on Saturday.

Hamilton dedicated his pole position at Spa to Boseman, and performed the Wakanda Forever salute made famous in the Black Panther film after both qualifying and his race victory.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the “tragedies” around the world that Hamilton was contending with through 2020 – amid the backdrop of activism against racism and racial injustice – had “driven” the six-time world champion.

Hamilton explained following his victory on Sunday the challenge that he faced to remain focused and charge his energy into performing on-track given the global events of 2020.

“I’ve generally

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Hamilton: Pressure must be put on F1 bosses to avoid boring races – F1

Lewis Hamilton believes pressure needs to be placed on Formula 1 bosses so that changes are made to avoid boring races such as the Belgian Grand Prix.

Hamilton eased to a dominant victory at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, leading every lap of the race ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

But a need for tyre management meant there was little action at the front of the field, with Hamilton, Bottas and Max Verstappen spending the entire race unchanged as the top three.

Red Bull driver Verstappen called the race “boring”, and lamented the fact he had to manage his tyres for around 38 laps of the 44-lap race.

PLUS: The 2019 “slump” behind Hamilton’s Belgian GP power

Mercedes’ performance advantage over the rest of the field has also led to a lack of competition at the front, something Hamilton compared to the dominance enjoyed by Michael Schumacher and

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Hamilton: Wolff’s Mercedes future won’t impact my F1 plans – F1

Lewis Hamilton has downplayed the potential impact on his future plans should Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff leave the team.

Wolff admitted in Barcelona on Friday that he is still discussing his options with Daimler AG chairman Ola Kallenius, including a change of role within the organisation.

Hamilton has not yet agreed to stay with Mercedes beyond 2020 and despite his close relationship with Wolff he insists that the Austrian’s future involvement at the team will not impact his own decision-making process.

“What you’ve got to remember is that it’s a team of so many people,” said Hamilton. “There’s almost 2,000 people in the team, or something like that. It’s not just down to one person, one individual. So yes, that’s not determining whether or not I stay.

“I’ve been a part of growing with this team and growing with that growth. The strength is there through and through,

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