Daniel Abt

Daniel Johannes Abt (born 3 December 1992) is a German former racing driver. He is most notable for competing and winning races in Formula E with the Audi Sport ABT team. Previously, Abt raced in German Formula Three, GP3, and GP2, as well as winning the 2009 ADAC Formel Masters. He is currently on a hiatus from competitive racing, having chosen to take up a broadcasting role with Sat.1 as part of their Formula E coverage.

Career

ADAC Formel Masters Abt was born in Kempten, Bavaria. In 2008, Abt switched to formula racing and competed in the ADAC Formel Masters for his father's team, Abt Sportsline. He started from the pole position four times and clinched a third and two second places as his best results. Finishing the season in eighth place of the standings, he was defeated by his team-mate Markus Pommer, who finished fifth overall with one victory to his credit. In 2009, Abt contested his second season in the ADAC Formel Masters for Abt Sportsline and with eight race wins commandingly clinched the champion's title ahead of Klaus Bachler. He took seven pole positions and a total of ten podium results. With 224 points against 90 points, he clearly prevailed in the internal duel against his team-mate René Binder.

Formula Three After running in the German Formula Three Championship as a guest entrant for Performance Racing in 2009, Abt switched to the series in 2010 joining the championship-winning Van Amersfoort Racing team. During the season, he prevailed against his team-mates Stef Dusseldorp and Willi Steindl and had chances of winning the championship title up to the last race weekend. In the end, he had to admit defeat to Tom Dillmann with a score of 112 points against 120 points, and with two race wins and a total of ten podium places finished as the overall runner-up. After the season, he competed for Signature at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. Abt was leading the race ahead of his team-mates Edoardo Mortara and Laurens Vanthoor but lost control of his vehicle and retired after an accident.

In 2011, Abt joined the Formula 3 Euro Series grid for Signature, finishing the season in seventh place after taking four third places as his best results. In the team, he was defeated by Marco Wittmann and Vanthoor, who achieved second and sixth place. Ahead of Carlos Muñoz, who finished in position eight of the standings, Abt was the third-best driver of his team. In addition, Abt was entitled to points in the 2011 FIA Formula 3 International Trophy where he achieved fourth place. At the end of the year, he tested for Audi in a DTM car.

GP3 and GP2 After setting the fastest time on several occasions in GP3 tests for Lotus GP at the end of 2011, the racing team that had provided the champion and the runner-up the year before, the team gave Abt a cockpit for the 2012 GP3 Series season.

On 19 December 2012, Abt got a contract to join ART Grand Prix in the GP2 Series in 2013 together with James Calado. Abt struggled as a rookie and finished the season in 22nd with only eleven points to his name, but remained in the championship for 2014 by moving to the German Hilmer Motorsport squad alongside fellow GP3 runner-up Facu Regalia.

Formula E (2014–2020)

On 13 February 2014, Abt was confirmed to also be racing in the inaugural Formula E season with his family associated team Audi Sport ABT alongside Audi's World Endurance Championship driver Lucas di Grassi.

2014–15

Having driven to third on the podium in the inaugural Formula E race, Abt was penalised for illegal modifications on his car resulting being pushed down to 10th position. Abt achieved one podium finish, pole position and fastest lap in the 2014–15 season with 32 points and 11th place in the championship. Abt failed to live up to expectations in his debut season having scored 101 less than teammate Lucas di Grassi, having lacked consistency.

2017–18

Abt won his first race in Formula E in the 2018 Mexico City ePrix, after 38 race starts.

2019–20 After the Race-at-Home scandal, Abt signed for the Nio 333 FE Team, replacing Ma Qinghua as travel restrictions prevented the latter from traveling to Berlin.

Disqualification in Sim-Racing

On May 23, 2020, Abt competed as an Audi factory driver in the sim racing series "Race at Home Challenge." However, he violated the rules by allowing a professional esports player to race on his behalf. Consequently, he was disqualified, lost all the championship points he had earned so far, received a €10,000 fine which was donated to charity, and was immediately dismissed by Audi.

Hiatus from racing (2021–present) In November 2020, Abt announced that although he had been offered a seat for the 2020–21 Formula E season, he chose to step away from racing for the time being. Instead, he took on a role as a TV expert and co-commentator for Sat.1’s Formula E broadcasts that season. He made it clear that this wasn’t a permanent goodbye to motorsport but felt that taking a break from official racing was the right decision for him. Since then, Abt has focused on other professional pursuits outside of active competition.

Additional information From 2008 to 2010, Abt was a candidate of the Deutsche Post Speed Academy. As the Academy's overall winner in 2009 and 2010, he was named "Germany's motorsport talent of the year". From 2010 onwards, Abt was also a member of Volkswagen's talent promotion programme.

On 8 August 2025, Abt married his fiancée Bianca Abt (née Forstmaier), who is from Sulzberg, Oberallgäu, in a civil ceremony in Kempten, Bavaria.

Several members of Abt's family are involved in motorsport. His father, Hans-Jürgen Abt, is the owner and team principal of the racing team Abt Sportsline, which competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), among other series. His uncle, Christian Abt, is also a racing driver and was active in the DTM for several years.

Since April 2014, Abt has been running the YouTube channel Daniel Abt, where he documents his life as a racing driver. As of December 2023, the channel had 632,000 subscribers and more than 204 million views. In April 2020, he launched the podcast Reden am Limit together with Benedikt Mayr and Mitja Lafere.

Since 2020, Abt has worked as a Formula E pundit for the German television channel Sat.1.

Entrepreneurial activities

Abt is the managing director of the Abt Lifestyle GmbH, which he founded himself, and, together with his father, sister, and other individuals, serves on the supervisory board of ABT SE, the main shareholder of Abt Sportsline GmbH. Most recently, Abt held a 5.86% stake in his father Hans-Jürgen Abt’s company, Abt Sportsline GmbH, before ABT SE became the main shareholder, according to the shareholder list in the German Commercial Register as of July 2022. Furthermore, Abt is also involved in other companies, which mainly belong to his family or are intended for his own projects.

Racing record

Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition 2008 ADAC Formel Masters Team Abt Sportsline 16 0 1 1 3 91 8th 2009 ADAC Formel Masters Team Abt Sportsline 16 8 7 3 10 224 1st German Formula 3 Championship Performance Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2010 German Formula 3 Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 18 2 6 5 10 112 2nd Macau Grand Prix Signature 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2011 Formula 3 Euro Series Signature 27 0 0 1 4 150 7th Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 6th FIA Formula 3 International Trophy 8 0 0 0 0 44 4th 2012 GP3 Series Lotus GP 16 2 1 0 7 149.5 2nd Formula Renault 3.5 Series Tech 1 Racing 6 0 0 0 0 0 34th German Formula 3 Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 3 0 0 0 1 18 14th Macau Grand Prix Carlin 1 0 0 0 0 0 12th 2013 GP2 Series ART Grand Prix 22 0 0 0 0 11 22nd 2014 GP2 Series Hilmer Motorsport 20 0 0 0 0 27 16th 2014–15 Formula E Audi Sport ABT 11 0 1 1 1 32 11th 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship Rebellion Racing 4 0 0 0 0 2 28th 24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 18th 2015–16 Formula E ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 10 0 0 0 3 68 7th 2016 ADAC GT Masters Bentley Team ABT 13 0 1 0 1 45 19th 24H Series - A6 C. Abt Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2016–17 Formula E ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 12 0 0 1 0 67 8th 2017–18 Formula E Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 12 2 1 3 4 120 5th 2018–19 Formula E Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 13 0 0 2 2 95 7th 2019–20 Formula E Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 5 0 0 1 0 8 21st Nio 333 FE Team 6 0 0 0 0

Complete ADAC Formel Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Points2008 Team Abt Sportsline OSC11 OSC12 NÜR11 NÜR12 ASS1 ASS2 NÜR21 NÜR22 LAU1 LAU2 SAC1 SAC2 OSC21 OSC22 HOC1 HOC2 8th 91 2009 Team Abt Sportsline OSC11 OSC12 ASS1 ASS2 NÜR11 NÜR12 HOC1 HOC2 LAU1 LAU2 NÜR21 NÜR22 SAC1 SAC2 OSC21 OSC22 1st 224

Complete German Formula Three Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2010 Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara F306 Volkswagen OSC11 OSC12 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 ASS11 ASS12 NÜR11 NÜR12 ASS21 ASS22 LAU1 LAU2 NÜR21 NÜR22 OSC21 OSC22 2nd 112

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 DC Points 2011 Signature Dallara F308/057 Volkswagen LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 NOR1 NOR2 NOR3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 VAL1 VAL2 VAL3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 7th 150

Complete GP3 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Points 2012 Lotus GP CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 2nd 149.5

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results (key) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points 2012 Tech 1 Racing ALC1 ALC2 MON1 SPA1 SPA2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MSC1 MSC2 SIL1 SIL2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 CAT1 CAT2 34th 0

Complete GP2 Series results (key) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Points 2013 ART Grand Prix SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR SILFEA SILSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR MRNFEA MRNSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 22nd 11 2014 Hilmer Motorsport BHRFEA BHRSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SOCFEA SOCSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 16th 27

Complete Formula E results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Points 2014–15 Audi Sport ABT Spark SRT01-e SRT01-e BEI PUT PDE BUE MIA LBH MCO BER MSC LDN LDN 11th 32 2015–16 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Spark SRT01-e ABT Schaeffler FE01 BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER LDN LDN 7th 68 2016–17 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Spark SRT01-e ABT Schaeffler FE02 HKG MRK BUE MEX MCO PAR BER BER NYC NYC MTL MTL 8th 67 2017–18 Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Spark SRT01-e Audi e-tron FE04 HKG HKG MRK SCL MEX PDE RME PAR BER ZUR NYC NYC 5th 120 2018–19 Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Spark SRT05e Audi e-tron FE05 ADR MRK SCL MEX HKG SYX RME PAR MCO BER BRN NYC NYC 7th 95 2019–20 Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Spark SRT05e Audi e-tron FE06 DIR DIR SCL MEX MRK 21st 8 Nio 333 FE Team Nio FE-005 BER BER BER BER BER BER Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2015 Rebellion Racing Alexandre Imperatori Dominik Kraihamer Rebellion R-One-AER LMP1 336 18th 9th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points 2015 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Rebellion R-One AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6 SIL SPA LMS NÜR COA FUJ SHA BHR 28th 2