Bruno Senna has been announced as the latest driver to join Extreme E, the new electric off-road racing series.

The 35-year-old Brazilian has enjoyed spells in Formula 1, FIA World Endurance Championship and Formula E. While this latest venture will have to wait as Season 1 isn’t scheduled to start until 2021, the unique concept of what the series represents is something that excites him.

“Extreme E is a completely different challenge to anything out there,” said Senna. “The series’ goal is to raise awareness about the troubles facing its race locations. Racing around cities, you’re well aware of everything that’s going on – it’s close to people’s realities. Extreme E will be racing in locations far away from people’s day-to-day lives and putting them front-and-center.

“We all have to do something. Every little change contributes to the cause and the lifestyle we have nowadays is not sustainable. Anything you can do, such as saving water and recycling, can help. We hope to bring this awareness to a wide audience. It’s such an important cause.”

One of the aspects the nephew of the late F1 legend Ayrton Senna finds intriguing is competing in an E-SUV, the ODYSSEY 21. Additionally, the head-to-head racing format will also be a new adjustment.

“It’s hard to know what to expect from the E-SUV. It’ll be very interesting to drive something so different and unique – I’ve never done anything like this before,” continued Senna.

“The format and knockouts will make it an intense experience and it’ll definitely be a lot of fun. There’ll be less opportunity to recover from mistakes so more pressure on not making any! It’ll be a real spectacle and a very entertaining one for those watching.

“The learning curve will be steep, wherever you’re coming from. The closest form of racing to Extreme E, I believe, will be rallycross. You’ll need to understand the mechanicals of the car, energy saving and the power delivery.

“Hopefully my experience will serve me well. I’ve done a lot of off-road racing as a kid so racing on different terrains are not new to me but this will be a new type of racing – I can’t wait.”

Senna joins other standouts in the Extreme E Driver’s Program, which include FIA World Rally Championship title-winner Sebastian Ogier, FIA World Rallycross front-runners Andreas Bakkerud and Kevin and Timmy Hansen, two-time DTM champion and FIA World Rallycross driver Timo Scheider, W Series winner Jamie Chadwick, leading female racers Katherine Legge and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, 2016 ABB FIA Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi; fellow Formula E racer and Le Mans winner, Andre Lotterer and Sacha Prost.

Further top-tier additions to the program will follow shortly, along with a number of team, and sporting announcements as this brand-new series takes shape apace.