The Audi Formula E driver Daniel Abt has been found guilty of subbing a pro-gamer to race in his place in the recent FE Esports Championship race. The German driver was disqualified and fined €10,000. The race was held on Saturday as part of the ongoing Formula E Race at Home Challenge Series. Abt had qualified in second place at the virtual Flughafen Tempelhof circuit in Berlin and finished in third place.
Other drivers grew suspicious of Daniel’s sudden improved performance as Abt had yet to score a point in the first four rounds of the series and immediately scoring a 3rd in the circuit raised their suspicions. Abt was also participating in a Zoom feed of the event, but his face was blocked by a microphone, making it impossible to figure out his identity. After the race many drivers asked Formula E to conduct an investigation.
“Really not happy here because that was not Daniel driving the car himself, and he messed up everything. That was ridiculous,” said the former F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne “I’m questioning if it was really Daniel in the car.”
Supporting Vandoorne, two-time Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne said:
“Please ask Daniel Abt to put his Zoom next time he’s driving… I’m pretty sure he wasn’t in.”
Later an investigation was called, in which Formula E ended up checking Abt’s IP addresses and determined that Abt wasn’t driving. Instead, the 18-year old professional gamer and e-sim racer Lorenz Hoerzing was behind the wheel. Hoerzing participates in the FE Challenge series and was banned from the Race Challenge series as a result of this misconduct. He was also stripped of his sixth-place finish in an FE Challenge race.
Later Daniel Abt released an official statement and apologized for his mistake.
“I would like to apologize to Formula E, all of the fans, my team, and my fellow drivers for having called in outside help during the race on Saturday. I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have. I’m especially sorry about this because I know how much work has gone into this project on the part of the Formula E organization. I am aware that my offense has a bitter aftertaste, but it was never meant with any bad intention.”
