World Champion and sustainability entrepreneur Nico Rosberg talks all things innovation, investment and electric as he takes us through what led him to participating in Extreme E, the possibilities the series holds for the future and how to keep looking ahead through criticism and doubt to achieve something great. 

Coming from a successful Formula One Background and making your debut in Extreme E this year as a team leader, what is it about sustainable start-ups like Extreme E that attract you as an entrepreneur?

When I retired from Formula 1, I dedicated myself to a life of service with an aim to help develop and champion new sustainability technologies that can help shape a better, healthier future for us all. Start-ups like Extreme E, where I am the Founder & CEO of Rosberg X Racing, and Formula E where I was an earlier investor are amazing platforms to help develop sustainable mobility technologies through competition today, ready for public and road use tomorrow. 

Moving beyond Extreme E, how do you see the technological advancements currently within the sport apply to initiatives outside of the motorsport world?

Motorsport has a long history of driving innovation by disrupting new technologies. For example, you only have to look to the hybrid powertrains that have been used since 2014 to see where much of the development of road-car hybrid systems have come from, and it’s the same with Extreme E, where we are collaborating with AFC Energy to use its hydrogen fuel cell technology to charge our race cars using zero emission energy. Electrification is something the whole world has to get on-board with, and it’s an area I’m proud to say that motorsport is leading in. 

Electrification is something the whole world has to get on-board with, and it’s an area I’m proud to say that motorsport is leading in

As with many projects openly discussing and tackling sustainability issues, there has been both doubt and criticism for the series. How do you respond to doubts surrounding electric racing, specifically on the capabilities of the vehicles themselves?

Doubt and criticism will always follow any new sporting format or series, but as we’ve seen with the growth of Formula E, it’s all about where you are going and not where you are at. With Extreme E, we are developing battery, motor and composite technologies in the most extreme locations on earth, to ensure that sustainable mobility can also be reliable mobility for all, regardless of where you are on the planet. That is the legacy Extreme E is aiming to create and a fundamental reason why my team and I are involved. 

…competition today, ready for public and road use tomorrow 

Nico Rosberg decided he was going to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Formula One World Champion at the age of six. Born in Wiesbaden, Germany but growing up in Monaco, it took young Nico 25 years to turn that childhood dream into a reality as he became a World Champion in 2016. Now, a passionate and successful environmental activist and entrepreneur, he leads an evolved version of his father’s Team Rosberg into the future of motorsport as the formidable Rosberg X Racing.

Find out more about Extreme E at: https://www.extreme-e.com/

Follow Nico Rosberg @NicoRosberg