Audi‘s Formula E team have fired German driver Daniel Abt after he let a professional gamer impersonate him in an official esports race.
So how exactly was he found out?
Other drivers taking part in the race questioned if it was really Abt driving in the e-race after his car finished third in Sunday’s Race at Home Challenge event competing online against other Formula E drivers. Abt who was second bottom of the virtual series, allowed 18-year-old Lorenz Hoerzing, a professional gamer, impersonate him.
During the race that took place at a virtual Berlin Tempelhof track, Belgian racer Stoffel Vandoorne questioned on the Twitch stream if Abt was actually the one driving his car and French driver Jean-Eric Vergne, seconded it.
“Please ask Daniel Abt to put his Zoom next time he’s driving, because like Stoffel said, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t in,” Vergne said.
While he was fined 10,000 euros ($10,900), Abt was then fired by Audi and his reputation damaged in the racing community.
Audi released a statement announcing that Abt was suspended:
“Integrity, transparency and consistent compliance with applicable rules are top priorities for Audi — this applies to all activities the brand is involved in without exception,” the statement reads. “For this reason, Audi Sport has decided to suspend Daniel Abt with immediate effect.”
Later, Abt revealed that he was let go.
“Today I was informed in a conversation with Audi that our ways will split from now on, we won’t be racing together in Formula E any more and the cooperation has ended,” Abt said in a 15-minute video posted on YouTube.
My statement about the Formula E E Race Scandal. It’s in german but you can activate english subtitles: https://t.co/7TlOGpnwD4 pic.twitter.com/lKorqBr9EV
— Daniel Abt (@Daniel_Abt) May 26, 2020
Abt added: “I made a huge mistake. I hope you can forgive me. I feel like I couldn’t fall any further. I’m on the floor but I’ll get up again. I hope you accept my apology.”
