Many of the world's greatest drivers have graced McLaren throughout our 60-year history, but few, if any, can claim to be as versatile as Mattias Ekström.

The storied 45-year-old, known as the ‘racing driver for all occasions’, made his karting debut back in 1993 and has since won multiple titles across different racing disciplines, from the DTM Championship in 2004 and 2007, to FIA World Rallycross in 2016.

He was the first PURE ETCR champion and is a four-time winner of the Race of Champions, in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2023. He’s also tried his hand in WRC, NASCAR, the Dakar Rally, V8 Supercars. And, of course, Extreme E.

And now, Mattias will be bringing some of that race-winning magic to McLaren, having signed up to join the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team for 2024.

“When Ian [James] and Gary [Paffett] told me what their targets were, I found it very interesting and wanted to be a part of a team with their attitude,” Mattias explains, following his first day working at our factory in Woking. “I could feel how committed this team were to Extreme E and was impressed by the general attitude of the team.

“Going to Woking was very exciting, it was a long day, and the focus was on content production, but it was great to see behind the curtain, to see all of the cars and to meet a lot of new people. I feel fully up to speed, with full gas in the tank.”

Joining with such a varied background in motorsport, Mattias will aim to push the team forward with his vast knowledge and experience, helping us to improve our practices and providing key feedback in debriefs. The Swede has demonstrated throughout his career that he’s able to translate his expertise from various series to whichever one he is racing in.

But he isn’t only one of the greatest all-round drivers on the planet, he’s one of the fastest too. Mattias has proven to be supremely quick in every championship he’s raced in, even when the stint was only a brief one.

“From the series I have raced in outside of Extreme E, I think my biggest contribution to this team will come from my rallycross and rally raid experiences,” Mattias says. “With this combination, I feel that I can contribute a lot.”

2024 will be Mattias’ third season in Extreme E, having made his debut in 2021 with Abt Cupra. After a year out, he returned with Acciona Sainz, where he took three podiums and two wins to finish as the vice-champion.

A proven winner in this series, Mattias wouldn’t shy away from his ambitions with NEOM McLaren. After coming so close to the title last season, he’s expecting to be racing at the sharp end in 2024 and has already been working with the team on how to achieve this.

“Every race I go to, I want to win,” Mattias declares. “It doesn't matter what the race is, because I race to win, and if I can’t win, then I want to finish second, or if not, then third. If you are not on the podium, then it isn’t much fun.

“I hope we can compete for wins and podiums right away. We’ll be using practice as good as we possibly can and then we’ll wait and see, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t here to win.

“Looking at the hardware here, you can tell that this team cares about the details, but it is the end result that counts. They have been fast from time to time, but haven’t yet had their first victory. Results set the tone and they decide how a race team are perceived, so I hope that I can bring the team sporting success, so that we don’t just look the greatest, but we are also a constant front-runner in the championship.”

Mattias already knows two key members of the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team very well, having raced against his new Sporting Director, Gary Paffett, and his new teammate, Cristina Gutiérrez, previously.

Teamwork comes naturally to Mattias - whose rallying background has seen him regularly work with co-drivers, such as Emil Berkvist in the Dakar Rally Challenge – and the 45-year-old says he is excited to link up with Gary, Cristina, and the rest of the NEOM McLaren team.

“I'm quite good at squeezing out my own driving skills, and helping my teammate to squeeze theirs too, so that we can do the best job we can every weekend and go home saying that we had nothing left in our pockets and put all our cards on the table. Then, we just hope that it’s good enough to win races.

“I have met Cristina several times in Extreme E, Dakar, and WRC, and I think she’s very impressive. She’s proven to be a fast driver, and I think she’s definitely one of the top female drivers there is on the planet, and she has a proven record in the Extreme E car.

“Gary was my competitor in DTM, and I rate him a lot as a human - he has a lot of values that I like. I never liked to lose against him, but he was one of the few drivers I could accept losing against. It’s all about respect for me and Gary has always had my respect. Even if we didn’t agree on something, we could speak about things and find a way forward. I think that’s a huge asset for us, he’s a bright guy, and it is no coincidence that he has this job.

“So, I think that we have all of the ingredients, we just need to come up with the recipe and bake it ourselves."

The 2024 Extreme season begins in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 17-18 February, which will host the first two rounds of the 10-round season. Details on where to watch Mattias and Cristina in action can be found here.