Cristina Gutiérrez announced as the female racer for X44 in Extreme E

Spanish driver Cristina Gutiérrez is one of the top female drivers in the Dakar rally: she first made history by becoming the first Spanish woman to finish the legendary race in the car category and she will now joins Lewis Hamilton's X44 team for Extreme E alongside rally star Sébastien Loeb as teammate.

It certainly helped to raise the attention on the brand-new series Extreme-E and is likely to help grow its fanbase into its inaugural season: X44, the team founded by 7-times Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, is now officially complete. Next to nine-time WRC champion Sébastian Loeb, it will be Cristina Gutiérrez to round out its impressive line-up.

Cristina Gutiérrez is best known for her journey in Dakar rally. She wrote history as she was the first Spanish woman to finish the legendary race in the car category and finished fifth among the debutants. Until the present day, Gutiérrez has completed the world's thoughest rally four times.

Cristina, who is also a dentist in her day-to-day life, started racing when she was just four years old. In her native Spain, she was able to secure a second place in the overall rankings of the All-Terrain Spanish Rally Championship - competing in the mixed gender category - and finished the series on top in the female category between 2011 and 2016.

“I am really excited to join X44." - she commented. "Not only will we get the opportunity to raise awareness of the climate crisis, which is very important to me, but I get to work with two heroes of mine. Sébastien Loeb is the most incredible rally driver of all time so I’m really happy that I get to partner with him and I hope to learn a lot."

"I’m a huge Formula 1 fan and have been watching Lewis race for years, so being asked to join his team is a dream come true. I drove in the car for the first time recently and it was such a great experience, I can’t wait to see what it can do at each race."

Her teammate Sébastian Loeb is well known in the world of rally. He won nine consecutive titles in the world championship and claimed three times the Race of Champions.

Loeb commented: "Cristina is a fantastic driver and I can’t wait to partner with her and see what we can achieve together. I am really impressed by what Lewis is doing in Formula 1 too, so to be able to work with him on this is an honour.”

Season 1 starts at the Desert X Prix: Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, on 20-21 March 2021.