Your one-stop shop for all things Extreme E. This is your guide to the all-electric series and the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team. Simple, straightforward and easy to understand.

So, you’ve decided to expand your racing horizons, and you’ve settled on Extreme E as the series you want to invest your time in, but, you don’t quite know where to start?  

Getting your noggin around a new racing series is never easy, so we’re here to provide the basics you need to know to enjoy our third season in the all-electric series.

CWhat is Extreme E?

A great place to start... Extreme E combines elements from many forms of motorsport in a competition unlike any other series. The brainchild of the people behind Formula E, it takes some of the electric drivetrain technology from that series and shifts it off-road, visiting diverse and remote locations in Saudi Arabia, Italy and the USA.

In motor racing terms, it’s a bit like a cross between rallycross and rally. Or, as the official Extreme E website so fantastically puts it: “Star Wars Pod Racing meets Dakar Rally.”

The series was designed to promote sustainability and offers a radical new concept of what racing could be by exploring more environmentally friendly technologies, racing in areas of the world affected by climate change, and by encouraging diversity and inclusion in motorsport.  

What is the weekend format?

From 2023, every X Prix has featured two rounds in one weekend: one on Saturday and one on Sunday. This doubled the number of races (and the fun) without any additional carbon footprint.

Qualifying consists of two sessions comprising two four-car heats. The top four qualifiers progress to the Grand Final race, which decides positions one to four in the final event classification. The bottom four qualifiers go into the Redemption Race, which decides positions five to eight.

This increases the importance of Qualifying, with those in the Grand Final unable to finish any lower than four, whereas those in the Redemption Race can score no higher than fifth.

How many points are on offer?

Twenty-five points are awarded to the winner of the Grand Final, then 18, 15, and 12 for places second to four. In the Redemption Race, fifth earns you 12 points, followed by eight, six and four points for places sixth to eighth.

One point is given to the winner of each qualifying heat. Each race has a designated Traction Challenge, and an additional two points are given to the team that is the fastest in that sector.

Grand Final Race	Points
1st	25
2nd	18
3rd	15
4th	12
Traction Challenge	2

Redemption Race	Points
5th	12
6th	8
7th	6
8th	4
Traction Challenge	2

How many drivers does each team have?

For those who aren’t aware, Extreme E requires each team to have two drivers: one male and one female. Both drivers contest each race and qualifying heat with an endurance-style driver switch in the middle (with a minimum switch time baked in for safety). Teams can choose who goes first, but each driver must start first an even number of times across the season. All selections are kept confidential until the cars reach the start line.

Who are your two drivers?

We’ve got an all-new driver line-up for 2024 after we signed Extreme E race winners, Cristina Gutiérrez and Mattias Ekström, an experienced and versatile duo who know what it takes to win in this series.

Cristina has competed in every season of XE to date, winning the championship in 2022 and taking four wins and 10 podiums overall. The Spaniard is a vastly experienced and successful off-road racer, having competed in the All-Terrain Spanish Rally Championship and the FIA Crosscountry Rally Championship, but most notably in the Dakar Rally, where in 2021, she became the second woman ever to attain a stage victory and in 2023, she became the second woman to win a Dakar Rally, and the first in the Challenger category.

Mattias has raced in two of the three Extreme E seasons to date, where he has won two races and clinched six podiums in total, finishing as vice-champion last season. The Swede had won races and titles in DTM, FIA World RallyCross, PURE ETCR and the Race of Champions, and has also competed in WRC, NASCAR, the Dakar Rally and V8 Supercars.

Between them, they bring rallying and rallycross experience, of which Extreme E is a combination (but you already know that because we told you above, remember?).

Who oversees the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team?

Gary Paffett was appointed as the team’s Sporting Director in January 2023 and oversees our Extreme E challenge.   

A recognisable name amongst McLaren fans, Gary previously served as a Test Driver for our Formula 1 team and now works for NEOM McLaren in a leadership role. The two-time DTM champion arrives with plenty of electric racing experience, having previously worked as a Sporting & Technical Advisor, Reserve & Development Driver and Team Manager in the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team.

As the Managing Director of NEOM McLaren Electric Racing, Ian James will also play a role. Ian – who began his career with McLaren Automotive as a Manufacturing Engineer – joined us from the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, where he served as Team Principal.

What can you tell us about the car?

Throughout six decades of racing, we’ve competed in cars of all shapes and forms, but we never in anything like the Odyssey 21.

Most of the cars we’ve driven have been designed and built in-house. However, the Odyssey 21 is a fully electric spec SUV car, designed by Spark Racing Technologies, which limits the areas we can develop ourselves. Instead, the challenge for our team is to set it up perfectly for conditions across a vastly different range of locations and terrains.

Can you go into more detail?

Weighing in at 1,780kg, the Odyssey 21 is 2.3m wide and capable of going from 0-100 km/h in under five seconds… barrelling up a 50° slope. The chassis, crash structure and roll cage are made from a niobium-reinforced steel tube. The bodywork covering is an aesthetic and marketing choice rather than a performance-critical component, so the teams can either run with series-standard bodywork or design their own.

It’s powered by a 54 kWh battery, producing a maximum power output of 470 kW (630 hp). There is one specification of tyres, and they are supplied by Continental, who designed them to cope with mud, sand, ice and pretty much whatever else the series throws at it.

…and it does throw things at it. While these cars are engineered to be robust, they take a real pounding, both from the environment in which they compete and from contesting every last inch of that environment with their fellow competitors. With only a very small team of mechanics on hand, and plenty of action over the weekend, the service park is a pretty busy place.

Other than using electric cars, how is Extreme E sustainable?

Extreme E is intended to be a fully sustainable series from day one. The series aims to minimise its footprint and offset anything that cannot yet be avoided. XE was carbon neutral by the end of Season 1.

The series has a minimal number of fans on site, which decreases the associated carbon costs of travel. Instead, it engages through broadcast and social media. To keep consumption down, the teams are capped at seven personnel: two drivers, one engineer and four mechanics, and where possible, they travel via sea rather than air in the floating paddock (more on that below). The vehicles are charged by hydrogen fuel cells, and the paddock uses a ‘second-life’ battery (formerly used in an electric bus) to maximise the use of renewable energy.

And by racing with mixed female and male driver line-ups as standard across the grid, Extreme E has also broken-down barriers in other important areas of sustainability, promoting diversity and inclusion in motorsport.  

What is the Legacy Programme?

Extreme E aims to leave a positive impact everywhere it races. To contribute to this, the series runs a Legacy Programme, which aims to highlight and inspire sustainable action concerning environmental and social sustainability.

At each race, the series, teams and drivers take part in a location-specific activity to benefit the region. This can be anything from educating local students to rehabilitating endangered wildlife.

Did I hear that the paddock floats?

Yes, it does… Although not magically in the air, on water (if that wasn’t obvious).

Let us take you back in time to a slower, more sustainable pace, governed not by airfreight timetables but by tide tables... The series’ kit, cars and infrastructure are transported by the St Helena, a former Royal Mail Ship launched in 1989 and now refitted to act as Extreme E’s ‘floating paddock’.

The 6,700 tonne, 105m vessel has eight decks and a crew of 50. It has been refitted to use the most sustainable marine engineering equipment and fuel and now has an onboard lab, tasked to study climate science (located in what used to be a swimming pool). The ship has 62 cabins, can sleep 175 people, and carry 90 20-foot shipping containers. It has two lounges, an 80-seat restaurant and a 100-seater exterior deck.

What is NEOM McLaren's history in Extreme E?

This isn’t our first all-electric off-roadeo. This will be our third season in Extreme E, having first entered the championship ahead of 2022 with drivers Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust.

Emma and Tanner drove for NEOM McLaren for two years, taking our first podium in the series in the season finale of our maiden campaign, finishing P2 in the Energy X Prix in Uruguay, marking the first podium for McLaren, achieved by a female driver.

The duo followed this up with more silverware in our second season as they claimed second at the Hydro X Prix in Scotland.

Where will we be racing, and where can you watch the action?

As we’ve already touched upon, each location will host two rounds in one weekend. And for anybody who watched Seasons 2 and 3, the campaign begins in familiar territory, with Saudi Arabia hosting the season-opening Desert X Prix on 17 – 18 February.

The location for the third and fourth rounds on 13 – 14 July is yet to be confirmed, but Rounds 5, 6, 7 and 8 will all take place in Sardinia, Italy on 14 – 15 September and 21 – 22 September, before the season final in Phoenix, USA on 23 – 24 November.

Find the broadcast options in your territory here. Follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to ensure you don’t miss any of the action.