ABT Sportsline confirm return to Formula E for season 9 and Gen3 era

ABT Sportsline has confirmed they will return to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship from the beginning of the Gen3 era, starting in 2023.

The German outfit will enter as a customer team and make their way back to Formula E having been a fixture throughout the championship’s first seven seasons. Despite a hiatus in season eight, ABT can still count themselves among the most successful teams in Formula E history, with 47 podiums and 1,380 points to their name.

The team won the first ever Formula E race in Beijing in 2014 while Lucas di Grassi steered to the drivers’ title in 2017. ABT sealed the teams’ crown a season later and partnered with Audi between 2017 and 2021.

“Formula E has always had a big place in our hearts and we have never made a secret of the fact that we want to be back,” said Hans-Juergen Abt, managing partner. Abt and the team’s aim is to put together a perfect package alongside Head of Sports Marketing Director Harry Unflath and CEO Thomas Biermaier.

“After the internal kick-off, we are now talking to our current and potential partners. The goal is to bring a strong team to the championship, both on and off track,” he added.

“We have always been in contact with Formula E and the FIA, had many discussions and have received great support from the whole team around Alejandro (Agag), Alberto (Longo), Jamie (Reigle) and Frédéric (Bertrand),” said Biermaier. The result is that ABT has expressed its intention to take over the 12th license for season nine.

ABT has secured a powertrain supplier for 2023, which they will announce shortly, and discussions are already underway as the privateer aims to secure a pair of “clever” drivers to leverage every possible advantage at the start of Formula E’s new