Audi (Formula International)

**Audi Sport ABT** was the works team of Audi in Formula International and eventually the feeder team for Audi's Formula Earth program. Debuting in Formula E's inaugural season in 2014, Audi saw success in 2017 when they won the double and was essentially one of the top teams of the sport. Following the mass restructuring of the motorsport ladder, Audi began strongly in Formula International and became the feeder team of the German manufacturer when Audi debuted at Formula Earth in 2021. However, the previous success could not be replicated in later seasons and later financial constraints due to Audi being pressured to run both teams effectively saw the German outfit fall down the order. Due to financial losses in 2028, Audi decided to shut down the Formula International venture and sell the assets to the highest bidder. The assets were acquired by Harvard University, who made their own team with them from 2029 onwards.

## Origins and Formula E History

ABT Sportsline serves as Audi's best tuning firm founded in 1996 by Johann Abt. The manufacturer mostly focused in motorsport and aftermarket components for various of the VW Group manufacturers, eventually racing in series like FIA GT and DTM, the latter seeing more success. In 2014, with the creation of Formula E, Audi expressed a desire to enter the series as a works team and started an alliance with ABT, thus forming the team. From the beginning, the team was competitive and in 2017 they won their first drivers title with Lucas di Grassi and followed with a teams title in 2018. Overall, the German manufacturer had established itself as one of the top teams of the sport.

## 2020: The last year on the front

Following the change in motorsport ladder and the renaming of the series to Formula International, Audi had to use a new lineup. The drivers picked were Italian Marco Aurelio and French driver Brigitte Bouvier. The team had a poor start when Aurelio retired on the first race and picked up an injury for the second race that sidelined him for 4 races. Reserve driver Edvin Beqiri was signed and scored 30 points in 4 races. However, despite him being consistently better than Bouvier, he was dropped back to test duties due to contract obligations with Aurelio. The Italian made a massive comeback by winning 2 succesive races later in season and overall finished 5th. It is believed that he could have been a serious contender for the title had not the injury happen. Meanwhile, Bouvier showed flashes of promise but ultimately finished 13th with 35 points compared to Aurelio's 106.

## 2021-2023: Ups and downs

Following Audi's debut in Formula Earth, the team became the feeder team to the German works team of FE. For 2021, Bouvier was kept for one more year and the team also signed Mamadou Wang after losing Beqiri to Jaguar. The team experienced a downturn in performances, with both drivers failing to score good results. Wang was sacked by the team and Andrei Aimansha was signed to partner Bouvier, who was on the last year of her contract. 2022 was an even worse year for the team, as they had fallen down to the backmarker group, scoring only 5 points in total and only beating the dying Porsche team.

For 2023, Audi had an overhaul in the squad, signing American duo Norman Power and Jarvan Lightshield. 2023 was a far better season as Power managed to score a podium and finish 11th. Lightshield also showed flashes of promise, having finally been given the chance to perform at a better level and finished 13th with a best result of 4th on his first race for Audi.

## 2024-2026: Further decline

However, in the end of the year, Power and Lightshield left the team and moved to Virgin. Also, Audi had been suffering from increasing debts, hindering the team's performance as shown at pre-season. Due to budget constraints, the team signed two cheap drivers, Rene Lentz who was promoted from the academy and 16yo Italian Maca Roni. The team was the worst of the grid, being a complete shadow of the team that was dominating Formula E a few years ago. Lentz scored all 11 points of the team and scored a best result of 6th. Roni on the other hand proved to be a complete fish out of his water and became soonly the butt of paddock jokes. Audi was eventually frustrated with the Italian and sacked him mid-season, replacing him with Simone Cimorelli. Cimorelli failed to score points either.

In 2025, the team lost Lentz to BMW Andretti and changed squads for another time, signing Doug Tosser-Schmidt from Venturi and Josephin Yashin who had struggled with Geely last season. 2025 was an even worse year as their drivers were the only ones who failed to score a single point. Both drivers were ousted and in 2026 Audi promoted academy prospect Martin Fenin and also signed Swiss driver Erich von Ribermarch. Once again, the team failed to score a single point for a second succesive season. Cimorelli also briefly returned when von Ribermarch was injured.

## 2027-2028: Brief resurgene but financial problems lead to shutdown

Fenin was kept for 2027 as he had shown great potential despite the team's poor performances. Also, for 2027 Audi signed Saulius Sudzius, who was on a decline following his unfortunate spell with Prema 3 years ago. 2027 was a minor improvement, with Fenin scoring 4 points and showing more of his great potential. Sudzius failed to settle even at Audi and scored 1 point, leading to his ousting as his contract proved to be a financial burden for the struggling team.

In 2028, Fenin was kept for one more season and Audi also gave youngster Michael Konig, who was a test driver for Virgin, a permanent seat. Fenin made a fantastic season in the underpowered car, scoring 21 points and finishing 16th. Konig on his first full season scored only 1 point. Despite the team's improvement, thanks solely to Fenin's astounding performances that led to promotion to the Formula Earth team, the financial losses proved to be too much for the team and Audi decided to shut down the venture and focus entirely on Formula Earth. The assets were put to sale and after many bidders submitted deals, most notably Opel and Gazprom, the winner was Harvard University who bought the assets and created their own team with support from Chevrolet. 3 years later, Audi would leave Formula Earth too due to financial losses, selling the team to Saudia owner Muhammad bin Salman who created the succesful Aramco team, thus marking Audi's full departure from the sport.

## Notable Drivers

* Marco Aurelio (2020)
* Brigitte Bouvier (2020-2022)
* Edvin Beqiri (2020)
* Mamadou Wang (2021)
* Andrei Aimansha (2022)
* Norman Power (2023)
* Jarvan Ligthshield (2023)
* Rene Lentz (2024)
* Maca Roni (2024)
* Simone Cimorelli (2024, 2026)
* Doug Tosser-Schmidt (2025)
* Josephin Yashin (2025)
* Martin Fenin (2026-2028)
* Erich von Ribermarch (2026)
* Saulius Sudzius (2027)
* Michael Konig (2028)