Congratulations on the becoming the FormulaE Driver Ambassador. Could you please elaborate on what this role entails?
I’m very pleased to be the driver ambassador for FIAFormulaE; this means that I will drive at promotional events where an independent driver is required. Also, I will speak to people about the technical aspects of the series. Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to drive the FormulaE car yet but a test drive is imminent (rumoured to be before Malaysia ePrix).
The opportunity to become a FE driver ambassador arose from being invited as a guest to a test at Donington, and discussions about my environmental and wildlife conservation interest and activities led to the FormulaE opportunity. My goal in life is to do as much as I can for the environment and wildlife so being a racing driver and being passionate about the environment – all-electric FormulaE series is a good fit.
The name Hunt is most famous for driving petrol engine cars and your dad had a well-documented rivalry with Niki Lauda who suffered burns from a F1 car-crash? How does that sit with your FormulaE aspirations?
I’m passionate about spreading the message of sustainability and to let people know that electric cars aren’t slow, sluggish and useless but they are actually cool, fast and powerful and they do actually work. The amount of pollution petrol-engine cars are generating at the moment can’t be good for the planet’s survival. So by working with the FormulaE series and as soon as we can get enough charging points on roads, the public will get comfortable with idea of driving electric cars.
Don’t get me wrong – I note some people on my father’s fan-page seem to think that I’m no longer interested in petrol -engines or that I’m trying to turn all racing championships electric but that is not the case. I love the likes of Formula 1, BTCC and NASCAR and there will always be a place for these types of championships, one of the things that makes racing so exciting is the power and smell of petrol-engines but Formula E also shows there is a place for electric racing and how exciting it can be. After all we are just trying to show electric road cars and their technology does work and how in the future it can be a part of our everyday lives.