Formula E

Audi Sport had been the title sponsor of the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport team since the first Formula E season in 2014/2015. As part of the collaboration, the company also provided one of its factory drivers, Lucas di Grassi. For the 2016/2017 season, Audi intensified the existing partnership with the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport team by providing financial and technical support. Brazilian pro Lucas di Grassi won the drivers’ title behind the wheel of the ABT Schaeffler FE02 in this third season. Audi was then the first German manufacturer to compete in Formula E with a full factory entry from the 2017/2018 season onwards. This successful year concluded with the outfit winning the teams’ title. At the end of 2021, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler exited Formula E with a total of 14 race wins and 47 podium finishes.

Quiet revolution

Formula E was the world’s first racing series for fully-electric race cars. In doing so, it reflected a future trend in mobility, as the focus has since been increasingly on electrified drivetrains. With races in the city centres of major international metropolises, the series has also set new standards in terms of locations. ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport was committed to this championship from day one. After finishing third in the first season and runner-up a year later, Lucas di Grassi won the drivers’ title in the third season.

A picture showing Lucas di Grassi celebrating his 2017 Formula E title in Canada.

Champion Lucas di Grassi on the podium in Montreal in 2017

Audi as the first German manufacturer

On this successful foundation, the factory team commitment of Audi Sport was developed, becoming reality for the 2017/2018 season. At the end of a thrilling fourth year, there was an unusual finale: in New York, the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team turned an almost insurmountable 33-point deficit into a two-point lead. After a 1-2 victory on the Brooklyn street circuit and two further podium finishes, the squad celebrated the teams’ title, while Lucas di Grassi improved to second place in the drivers’ championship.

A picture showing the two Audi Formula E race cars leading the race in New York in 2018.

Lucas di Grassi led Daniel Abt to a 1-2 victory at the 2018 New York E-Prix

A picture showing Lucas di Grassi’s Audi Formula E race car doing donuts in Mexico in 2019.

Lucas di Grassi celebrated with donuts after his spectacular last-lap triumph at the 2019 Mexico E-Prix

Everything new

Formula E entered its fifth season in 2018/2019 with a new car, new rules and new venues. Together with Schaeffler, Audi developed the motor-generator unit (MGU) of the Audi e-tron FE05. At the end of the season, the team had finished second in the teams’ standings, with Lucas di Grassi in third place in the drivers’ championship.

A press picture of Daniel Abt, Lucas di Grassi and the Audi Formula E race car ahead of the fifth Formula E season.

Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi together with the Audi e-tron FE05

Convincing overall record

The 2021 season marked a special end to Audi’s journey. That year, Formula E was elevated to the status of an FIA world championship for the first time. Audi Sport developed the new MGU05 motor-generator unit for the Audi e-tron FE07. Lucas di Grassi ended the season with a victory at the finale in Berlin. It was the Brazilian’s twelfth race victory in the electric racing series. After seven years, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler looked back on 1,380 championship points in 84 races. This made the German outfit the most successful team in Formula E at the time. 14 victories and 47 podium finishes, as well as one title each in the drivers’ and teams’ championships, rounded off the tally. Added to this are the successes of a customer team: at the beginning of the fifth Formula E season, Audi Sport also equipped the Envision Virgin Racing team for the first time. In the hands of the British team, the Formula E race cars from Audi achieved a further five race victories between the fifth and eighth seasons.

A picture showing Lucas di Grassi celebrating victory in Berlin in 2021.

Victory for Lucas di Grassi at the 2021 Berlin E-Prix

Gallery

A picture showing Daniel Abt’s Audi Formula E race car in Berlin in 2018.

A picture showing Lucas di Grassi’s Audi Formula E race car in Mexico in 2019.

A picture of René Rast’s Audi Formula E race car in Berlin in 2020.

A picture showing the Audi Formula E race cars in New York in 2021.

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