Breaking news
Formula E
Abt hopes Berlin win will lead to fresh Audi FE deal
Audi’s Daniel Abt hopes that his dominant Formula E victory on home soil in Berlin will lead to a new deal with the German manufacturer for season five.
Alex Kalinauckas
Edited: May 31, 2018, 3:34 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Despite the 2017/18 championship being Abt’s strongest in FE so far, he does not yet have a contract signed for season five.
When asked about his 2018/19 plans following his Berlin victory, Abt told Motorsport.com: “I need a ride – still nothing is confirmed.
“I hope I could convince people after this weekend to sign me for next year. I feel like I’m really at the top of my game at the moment – I feel confident and see no reason why [I wouldn’t] be confident next year.”
When asked by Motorsport.com if that was a message directed at anyone, Abt said: “No, not really. I’ve been asked, I gave an honest answer.
“We will speak about it and I don’t see a reason why I shouldn’t be here next season. I think I’ve proven this season that the choice was correct, that I deserved this seat and now we will speak about that and see where we end up.
“If Audi is happy with what I’m doing then I hope we can continue together.”
When Motorsport.com asked Audi team principal Allan McNish about his season five line-up and Abt’s comments, he replied: “That’s [for] next year, we’re talking about Zurich and New York first.
"Keep delivering, just keep delivering. He shouldn’t worry [though].”
Audi trust boosted performances
Abt believes Audi’s “trust” from keeping him in its works Formula E line-up is boosting his 2017/18 performances and shows he is more than just “the son of someone”.
Abt spent the first FE’s three seasons racing for the Audi-affiliated team run by his father Hans-Jurgen. While his teammate Lucas Di Grassi won six races and the season three championship across this period, Abt was winless.
But in season four, after Audi formally tookover the team and made it a full factory squad, Abt has secured his first two FE victories and is ahead of di Grassi in the championship.
“All the time, since I’m in Formula E, I’ve grown, I’ve become a better driver,” Abt said. “I was very young and inexperienced when this whole thing started – I had one of the best drivers as my teammate, who was a hard benchmark.
“It was not always easy – I also had more problems throughout the years than Lucas had. I just kept trying my best – there’s not much more I can do.
“And I think this season, what changed is that Audi came on-board [and] gave us an incredible car, but it also put me a bit more out of the role of just being the son of someone.
“They said ‘ok, we’ll go with Daniel’ [and] they could have chosen anyone. Maybe that helped me a bit, to have that trust, that feeling. I just feel very confident with everything that I do.
“It’s a bit hard to really specify why it is or what it is, but I’m just happy with myself, happy and confident.
“I have a great team and great people around me and I think that just helps me perform at my best.”
Additional reporting by Kyran Gibbons
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Agag column: Why FE is in a real growth phase
Next article Tai steps down as Virgin Formula E team principal
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Alex Kalinauckas
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Formula 1
Formula 1 May 3, 2025
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 2, 2025
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 1, 2025
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
More from
Daniel Abt
Frijns, Muller to join Abt Formula E squad for 2022-23
Formula E
Formula E Aug 24, 2022
Frijns, Muller to join Abt Formula E squad for 2022-23
Abt to sit out 2021 after turning down Formula E drive
Formula E
Formula E Nov 30, 2020
Abt to sit out 2021 after turning down Formula E drive
Former Audi racer Abt gets second FE chance with NIO
Formula E
Formula E Jul 1, 2020
Former Audi racer Abt gets second FE chance with NIO
More from
Team Abt
Title hopes over, Gounon injured: Why did Nicki Thiim lose control?
DTM
DTM
Sachsenring
1 mo
Title hopes over, Gounon injured: Why did Nicki Thiim lose control?
Penalty storm with consequences: Mapelli loses maiden DTM win, celebrations at McLaren
DTM
DTM
Lausitzring
3 mo
Penalty storm with consequences: Mapelli loses maiden DTM win, celebrations at McLaren
Not a "handful" after all? How the DTM special waiver helped the Lamborghini
DTM
DTM
Zandvoort
4 mo
Not a "handful" after all? How the DTM special waiver helped the Lamborghini
Latest news
Christian Horner admits that F1 rivalry with Toto Wolff became "theatre"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 31 min
Christian Horner admits that F1 rivalry with Toto Wolff became "theatre"
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
6 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
10 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 11 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe