With the fifth season of FIA Formula E racing on the horizon, we take a look at Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, one of the teams that will make up the 2018-2019 field.
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler have been one of the mainstay teams in Formula E, as they were a part of the inaugural 2014 season and have maintained the same driver lineup of Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt while coming into the current next-gen development of the up-and-coming all-electric sport.
Audi Sport field the newest development of their all-electric program with the brand new Audi e-Tron FE05. The factory team have seen a significant increase in financial support, with Audi pulling out of endurance racing in 2016 to pursue the avenue of clean energy racing.
The Gen2 Spark Racing Technology chassis, which will be used by each team, will carry an increased power output ability of 250 kilowatts, up from 200 kilowatts in years prior. The new battery ability now allows for teams to run a full race without having to swap out cars in the middle of each race, which was always an oddity to the traditional racing spectator.
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Audi Sport stand as one of the dominant forces in Formula E with backing from the Audi factory, which provides major assistance in the form of knowledge and financial assistance. Audi took a significant amount of knowledge from their incredibly successful programs in the World Endurance Championship. They earned 11 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, of which four were won with the use of hybrid technology.
The drivers
Lucas di Grassi, #11
Lucas di Grassi won the first ever Formula E race in 2014 at Beijing Olympic Green Circuit in Beijing, China and has been a championship contender in all four of his seasons of Formula E competition. He won the championship in the third season, which came down to the final race in Montreal, Canada. Coming into his fifth season of competition in Formula E, he has won eight races and finished on the podium in 27 races. He is the first person to drive a racing car on the Arctic Ice Cap, doing so with the Project Ice Adventure.
Daniel Abt, #66
Daniel Abt has had his own levels of success in the ever-changing world of Formula E with two race wins and a further eight podium finishes to his name. He earned one of those two victories in his home race in Berlin this past season. He will be looking to continue his upward trend of results in 2019 with the new Gen2 machine.
While the introduction of the Gen2 Formula E platform is sure to level the playing field, it would be a safe bet that Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler will be competing for race wins with four years of Formula E experience under their belt as well as one of the more cohesive driver lineups in the sport.
Audi should, however, have competition from new big names and teams that are joining the sport for its fifth season of competition. The first round of the fifth season is scheduled to kick off on Saturday, December 15 from the Riyadh Street Circuit in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Tune into Fox Sports 1 for live race coverage starting at 6:30 a.m. ET.