The FIA and Formula 1 have today revealed their shared plan to establish a combined Hydrogen Working Group along with the planned Extreme H series from 2025.
It was announced in August that Extreme H, the world’s first off-road hydrogen motor racing championship created by the team behind Formula E, will commence in 2025.
Extreme E was a series set up in 2021 that combines sustainable off-road racing in electric SUVs with gender-equal line-ups to highlight issues related to the environment.
A scheme was formulated to evolve that into Extreme H in 2022, with plans to prototype a hydrogen-powered chassis this year before a more extensive testing programme in 2024.
Working alongside the governing body, Extreme E ensured that Extreme H will be recognised as an FIA Championship from the outset with its inaugural campaign in 2025.
The intention remains for it then mature into an official FIA World Championship in 2026, with the FIA becoming responsible for all technical, sporting and safety regulations.
The FIA will work alongside F1 and Extreme H to “monitor the progression and development of hydrogen technology – both for the fuel cells and battery systems which will be used in Extreme H’s first-generation racing chassis – as well as hydrogen technology within race site infrastructure, transportation, charging, storage and management, and its safety implications.”
This will be done courtesy of a group comprising three individuals from all three of the organisations mentioned above, as part of a strategic alliance “to evaluate developments and potential applications for hydrogen within motorsport and wider mobility.”
It has been confirmed that the set-up will include Mark Grain, Extreme E Technical Director, Pat Symonds, F1 Chief Technical Officer and Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Director.
“It’s a privilege to be working alongside Formula 1 and the FIA as we continue to develop our world-first hydrogen racing proposition,” Grain, who is leading the series, said.
“Our transition to Extreme H makes us the pioneers and first-ever testbed of hydrogen technology in motorsport – not only in our racing cars, but also transportation, infrastructure, refuelling processes and safety regulations.
“It’s a ground-breaking initiative and we look forward to collaborating with Formula 1 and Pat [Symonds] both technically and operationally, as we continue to champion new technologies and break boundaries on behalf of motorsport, with hydrogen at the forefront.”
Three former F1 World Champions – Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button – all currently own outfits competing in Extreme E, along with McLaren.
Symonds, who previously worked for both Renault and Williams in F1, added: “Our sport has a tradition of bringing new technologies to the forefront of public perception in incredibly short timescales. We do this by being open-minded to all solutions and embracing cross-functional engineering.
“With climate change mitigation at the forefront of everyone’s mind we are committed to promoting sustainability and therefore need to explore all areas of decarbonisation of the mobility sector. This must include sustainable liquid hydrocarbon fuels, electrification and hydrogen.
“This Working Group enables a collaboration which will allow us to gain first-hand experience and contribute to the understanding and development of the many aspects of hydrogen propulsion that Extreme H will embrace.”
Tombazis concluded: “As the governing body for both the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the upcoming FIA Extreme H Championship in 2025, we welcome this latest collaboration.
“The FIA Technical Department has experience and knowhow in the area of hydrogen technology which we will be bring to the Working Group along with sporting, safety and regulatory expertise. As is currently the case across the entire FIA motorsport portfolio, we will take learnings from this collaboration for the benefit of our sport and mobility.”
