Adrian Newey and Jean-Eric Vergne have an Extreme E team

Extreme E. You should know what it is by now; the all-electric, off-road version of Formula E. There are some big names signed up too – drivers will include Sebastian Ogier, Jamie Chadwick, Lucas di Grassi and Andre Lotterer when the first season rolls around in 2021.

You can now add more to the mix, although this time it’s the backers of a whole new team. Formula 1 wizard Adrian Newey has teamed up with current Formula E champ Jean-Eric Vergne and four young motorsport entrepreneurs (one of whom is Newey’s son) to create Veloce Racing.

Now, you’ll also be aware that all of the cars used in Extreme E’s debut season will be the Odyssey 21. The Odyssey weighs 1,650kg and deploys 550bhp to get from 0-62mph in 4.5secs. Impressive. 

What we’re not sure about, though, is how much impact Adrian Newey – a bona fide genius with ten F1 World Constructors’ Championships to his name – will be able to have on that car. We know body panels can be changed on the Odyssey, but will the internals be off-limits? Newey’s job title at Veloce will be ‘Lead Visionary’. Hmmmmm.

We’re also not sure whether Jean-Eric will be racing in Extreme E or whether he’ll just be acting as a co-founder of the team. He’s won the last two Formula E championships, so we’d love to see him have a crack at some jumps.

So, four teams are now confirmed ahead of the February 2021 season opener in Greenland. Excited?