Gender Equality Works
Over its first four seasons, Extreme E has showcased an impressive roster of female drivers who have contributed to its pioneering gender-equal racing format. These trailblazing drivers include; Molly Taylor (E.ON Next Veloce Racing), Cristina Gutiérrez and Emma Gilmour (NEOM McLaren XE), Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (RXR), Catie Munnings (Andretti Altawkilat), Klara Andersson (SUN Minimeal), Claudia Hürtgen and Jutta Kleinschmidt (ABT CUPRA XE), Sara Price (Chip Ganassi Racing), Laia Sanz (ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team), Jamie Chadwick (Veloce Racing), Lia Block (Carl Cox Motorsport) Gray Leadbetter (Legacy Motor Club), Hedda Hosås, Dania Akeel and Amanda Sorensen (JBXE), alongside Championship Drivers Tamara Molinaro and Christine GZ.
These drivers have played a crucial role in demonstrating the transformative potential of equality-focused motorsport, showing remarkable growth and consistently narrowing the performance gap with their male counterparts season after season.
Across the wider motorsport community, the impact of Extreme E is well recognised. Helena Hicks, Founder of Females in Motorsport is incredibly excited about the new data: “Since its creation, Females in Motorsport has closely followed Extreme E as a Championship and is proud of its support of female competitors - mainly through its promotion of equal opportunities.
“As an organisation, we are delighted with today’s data; transparency with the Gender Gap report is a huge move, and we welcome it as a positive step to improve female talent. We look forward to following Extreme H over the coming years, and seeing what the series can achieve.”
The Numbers Behind the Progress
From Season 1 to Season 4, the median average time difference between male and female drivers decreased dramatically, with female drivers improving by greater leaps each season.
The data is taken from the Continental Traction Challenge, a timed super sector section of each Extreme E race course, where teams compete to set the fastest time to win two additional championship points.
- Season 1: Female drivers’ times were, on average, 4.5 seconds slower than their male counterparts.
- Season 4: This gap shrank to just 1.1 seconds, a 68.64% reduction.
This progress is even more striking when viewed season by season:
- Season 2: A 29.76% improvement from Season 1.
- Season 3: Performance improved by an additional 29.67%.
- Season 4: Female drivers closed the gap further, by 36.5%, compared to Season 3, an especially remarkable fact when you consider that Extreme E only completed four of its ten rounds.
Molly Taylor, from E.ON Next Veloce Racing is one of Extreme E's most decorated drivers, achieving eight victories and the inaugural Championship title; the Australian has the most victories of any female driver and second most overall — only one fewer than double champion Johan Kristoffersson — despite competing in three fewer events.
Molly, who has raced with the series from its inception, said: “Extreme E has without a doubt changed the course of my career and I'm confident all the female drivers in the series would say the same thing. We all know how challenging motorsport is, but what Extreme E has proven is that with the right opportunity, exposure, development and investment we can see women reach the top.
“It can be a difficult cycle to break; you need the seat time to prove your potential, but you need results to attract the support needed to access that very seat time. Extreme E put themselves out there and tried something new to force change and it makes me so proud to be one of the drivers to prove the success of this concept. We have built some strong momentum and, whilst this doesn’t alleviate the continuing challenges of motorsport, we are making change. It’s pretty special and something I hope motorsport can learn from more broadly.”
Additional Headlines
- In Saudi Arabia (Season 4 R1+2) Catie Munnings was third fastest driver overall, across the entire 16 strong field.
- In Scotland, Race 3, the median time difference between male and females was only 0.61s.
What’s Driving the Change?
Extreme E’s commitment to providing equal opportunities for male and female drivers has been pivotal. Unlike traditional motorsport formats, Extreme E requires every team to field one male and one female driver, sharing the same vehicle and providing equal responsibility for performance.
This framework:
- Increases Seat Time: Ensures female drivers gain the same competitive experience and visibility as their male teammates.
- Encourages Development: Teams invest equally in training and development for both drivers.
- Promotes Confidence: Female drivers are not only going head-to-head against the best drivers in the world, including legends Carlos Sainz Sr, Sebastien Loeb, and Nasser Al-Attiyah, but they also gain from their mentorship as team mates, which supports development.
- Allows data sharing: Female and male drivers work together reviewing the key data points from the car to improve overall performance.
Additional quotes:
Jenson Button, JBXE team founder said: “Extreme E’s mixed-gender format is a game-changer, and this data proves just how powerful equal opportunity can be. Over four seasons, we’ve seen female drivers close the gap and perform on par with the best in the world, which is an incredible achievement. Watching the series' drivers, both male and female, thrive under this format has been inspiring, and a reminder that talent knows no gender, it just needs the right platform to shine.”
Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, Extreme E Season 3 Championship winning driver with RXR, said: "Extreme E has created an unparalleled platform for female drivers, offering equal seat time, opportunities, and driver development. This unique format ensures both drivers must perform at their best to succeed. Competing with RXR in Extreme E allowed me to make the biggest strides in my career as a driver. The results speak volumes about the progress we’ve achieved, but I believe this is just the beginning of an exciting journey."
Catie Munnings, driver for Extreme E’s Andretti Altawkilat, said: “Extreme E is a Championship that has proven on track against a stopwatch what giving opportunity to drivers can do. When Extreme E started, a lot of the females had less experience than their male counterparts in their team. This data proves what opportunity and access to the best engineers and performance resources within top teams can really do for young drivers.
Klara Andersson, driver of SUN Minimeal said: "Extreme E has given female drivers incredible opportunity to showcase the fact that gender does not decide a driver's abilities and, given the same seat time and possibilities, women can perform just as well as the men.
“Being part of Extreme E and getting to race with team mates who have included Nasser Al-Attiyah, Seb Loeb and Timo Scheider has played a hugely positive role in my development. It’s support like this which makes this championship so unique and ultimately boosts performance.”
Commenting on the latest findings, Alejandro Agag, Extreme E’s Founder and CEO, said: "Our sporting format is more than just a race, it’s a statement. By levelling the playing field, Extreme E has demonstrated that the gender gap in performance isn’t a matter of ability, but opportunity and investment."
Looking Ahead
With Extreme E transitioning to Extreme H in 2025, the focus on sustainability and equality will remain central. The results achieved so far are a testament to the transformative power of innovation in sport, paving the way for even greater strides in equality.
As the stats prove, when given equal opportunities, barriers fall, and excellence knows no gender.
