Formula 1, FIA and Extreme H, the world’s first hydrogen-powered off-road racing World Championship, which is scheduled to start in 2025, have unveiled the creation of a joint hydrogen-focused working group.
The team will consist of representatives from the three organizations, including Mark Grain, Extreme E’s Technical Director, who is charged with leading the series’ transition to Extreme H, Pat Symonds, F1 Technical Director, and Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Director.
Together, they will bring their collective expertise to bear in a strategic alliance to assess the advances and potential applications of hydrogen in both motorsport and mobility in general.
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“It is a privilege to work alongside Formula 1 and the FIA as we continue to develop our world-first hydrogen racing proposition. Our transition to Extreme H makes us a pioneer and the first test bed for hydrogen technology in motorsport, not only in our race cars, but also in transportation, infrastructure, refueling processes and safety regulations,” said Mark Grain.
Extreme H: For Hydrogen
The working group aims to oversee the progress and development of hydrogen technology, covering fuel cells and battery systems that will be implemented in the first-generation Extreme H racing chassis.
In addition, it will focus on the evolution of hydrogen technology in infrastructure, transportation, charging, storage and management at the race site, also assessing its implications in terms of safety.
The advancement of the first Extreme H series is underway, with the intention of presenting a prototype hydrogen-powered chassis in collaboration with its partner, Spark. A first full-speed test is planned for later this year, followed by a test program in early 2024.
“Our sport has a tradition of bringing new technologies to the forefront of public perception in incredibly short timeframes. We do this by being open-minded to all solutions and embracing cross-functional engineering. With climate change mitigation on everyone’s mind, we are committed to promoting sustainability and therefore need to explore all areas of decarbonization of the mobility sector,” Pat Symonds says.
“This must include sustainable liquid hydrocarbon fuels, electrification and hydrogen. This working group enables a collaboration that 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,” he concluded.
