Daniel Abt has been disqualified from the fifth round of the ABB Formula E Race At Home Challenge after fielding an ineligible driver to drive instead of him in Saturday’s race.
The German driver shocked the FE world yesterday after he set a blisteringly quick lap of 1:09.3 to qualify second behind Stoffel Vandoorne who qualified on pole with a 1:09.1.
Abt had failed to qualify anywhere close to the top five throughout the entire Race At Home series, and the suspicion was immediately raised by the drivers when they saw the German’s lap.
Stoffel Vandoorne tried phoning Daniel Abt on his stream to see where he had managed to find that lap time after his qualifying run, but Abt failed to answer the phone.
Abt went onto finish third in the race, but it was later found out that sim racer Lorenz Hoerzing was actually driving Abt’s car instead of the Audi driver.
The 27-year old was then disqualified from the race and had all his points deducted from the other four rounds of the championship. Abt will also have to donate 10,000 euros to a charity of his choice.
“I would like to apologise to Formula E, all of the fans, my team and my fellow drivers for having called in outside help during the race on Saturday,” said Abt. ” I did not take it as seriously as I should have. I am especially sorry about this because I know how much work has gone into this project on the part of the Formula E organisation. I am aware that my offence has a bitter aftertaste, but it was never meant with any bad intention. Of course, I accept the disqualification from the race. In addition, I will donate 10,000 Euros to a charitable project.”
The next instalment of the Race At Home challenge will take place on May 30th.