Daniel Abt

Daniel Johannes Abt 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.

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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, he switched to the series in 2010 joining the championship-winning Van Amersfoort Racing team. During the season Abt 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 3rd 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.

Personal life

After obtaining his advanced technical college entrance qualification at a technical secondary school, Abt began studying business informatics, but did not complete his degree; he also did not undertake any formal vocational training.
On 8 August 2025, Abt married his fiancée Bianca Abt, 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, 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, Daniel Abt is also involved in other companies, which mainly belong to his family or are intended for his own projects.

Racing record

Complete ADAC Formel Masters results

Year

Team

Pos

Points

2008

Team Abt Sportsline

OSC1
1
17

OSC1
2
8

NÜR1
1
9

NÜR1
2
20

ASS
1
7

ASS
2
8

NÜR2
1
2

NÜR2
2
Ret

LAU
1
3

LAU
2
4

SAC
1
2

SAC
2
Ret

OSC2
1
7

OSC2
2
4

HOC
1
4

HOC
2
Ret

8th

2009

Team Abt Sportsline

OSC1
1
1

OSC1
2
2

ASS
1
EX

ASS
2
EX

NÜR1
1
1

NÜR1
2
1

HOC
1
5

HOC
2
1

LAU
1
Ret

LAU
2
1

NÜR2
1
1

NÜR2
2
1

SAC
1
2

SAC
2
1

OSC2
1
8

OSC2
2
9

1st

224

Complete German Formula Three Championship results

Year

Entrant

Chassis

Engine

Points

German Formula Three Championship|2010]

Van Amersfoort Racing

Dallara F306

Volkswagen

OSC1
1
2

OSC1
2
3

SAC
1
4

SAC
2
2

HOC
1
5

HOC
2
3

ASS1
1
2

ASS1
2
1

NÜR1
1
5

NÜR1
2
3

ASS2
1
10

ASS2
2
15

LAU
1
4

LAU
2
4

NÜR2
1
2

NÜR2
2
2

OSC2
1
1

OSC2
2
16†

2nd

112

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

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	LEC 1 Ret	LEC 2 11	LEC 3 9	HOC 1 4	HOC 2 7	HOC 3 6	ZAN 1 Ret	ZAN 2 8	ZAN 3 5	RBR 1 6	RBR 2 3	RBR 3 4	NOR 1 10	NOR 2 10	NOR 3 3	NÜR 1 12	NÜR 2 7	NÜR 3 7	SIL 1 5	SIL 2 5	SIL 3 5	VAL 1 10	VAL 2 10	VAL 3 7	HOC 1 5	HOC 2 3	HOC 3 6	7th	150

Complete GP3 Series results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16		Points
2012	Lotus GP	CAT FEA 13	CAT SPR 6	MON FEA 6	MON SPR 3	VAL FEA 6	VAL SPR 2	SIL FEA 4	SIL SPR Ret	HOC FEA 7	HOC SPR 2	HUN FEA 2	HUN SPR 11	SPA FEA 1	SPA SPR 5	MNZ FEA 1	MNZ SPR 2	2nd	149.5

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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	ALC 1	ALC 2	MON 1	SPA 1	SPA 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	MSC 1	MSC 2	SIL 1	SIL 2	HUN 1 18	HUN 2 24	LEC 1 Ret	LEC 2 18	CAT 1 16	CAT 2 Ret	34th	0