Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Vida Carbon Racing claim first Extreme E title in rollercoaster second season

URUGUAY: Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Vida Carbon Racing has secured its first Extreme E title, capping a drama-filled second season of the series.

The team finished third by half a second in the Uruguay Natural Energy X Prix to secure the championship in a final that went right down to the wire, with ABT CUPRA XE securing a maiden X Prix victory.

Hamilton’s outfit entered a final that was missing three of the top four teams in the championship standings, including leaders RXR. As their closest rivals watched on from the paddock, Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez secured the podium finish needed to take their maiden Extreme E title, just two points clear of RXR in the standings, having bagged a crucial five points from the Continental Traction Challenge in Qualifying 2.

Gutierrez was ecstatic. “I still can’t believe it. It was a very tough weekend for us, especially after my roll yesterday. The team did a crazy job with the (spare) car and Qualifying 2 was the first time we had driven it.

“As for the final, on the radio they told me someone was going to be penalized but still I didn’t know. I wanted to be sure that we won so I did not celebrate before it was official. It was a rollercoaster, but it is much better than that for us as we can now believe in what we have achieved.”

Loeb was equally happy. “We could only go and compete with everything we had and try to score maximum points. In the final, it was a critical moment because I was fourth and we needed to be third. We had some contact here and there, but there was nothing I could do to overtake. Cristina did a great job to stay very close to the car in front and we knew potentially we were third. At the end it was what we needed so I’m really relieved to be here