Audi have announced that Lucas di Grassi will be joined by Rene Rast to fight for the first ABB FIA Formula E World Championship next year.
Rast joined the Formula E grid for the six race finale at Berlin in August, lining up alongside Lucas di Grassi for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler, after Daniel Abt was let go from the team. Season 7 will be Rast’s first time competing in the all-electric series outside of Berlin as his first Formula E experience came during the second season of the series, where he stood in for an absent Antonio Felix da Costa, and raced at the Berlin Street Circuit in Karl-Marx-Allee.
The German put in an impressive showing at the Tempelhof finale races, scoring 29 points and taking third place in the penultimate round.
“The races in Berlin have definitely whetted my appetite for more,” said Rast. “So I’m now looking forward to my first full season in Formula E. Starting in this world championship for Audi is the next exciting chapter in my career and I am really looking forward to it.”
Formula E’s season 3 champion, Lucas di Grassi, will remain with the Audi team for his seventh season and, once they line up for the first race of season 7, will be the only driver to have competed in every race of the series for the same team.
“I have experienced everything in these six years: great successes, defeats, insane emotions,” said di Grassi. “And the best is yet to come, because the start-up from back then is now turning into an FIA World Championship. Together with Audi and Rene, I will give everything in 2021 to have a say in the fight for the world championship title.”
Audi’s Head of Motorsport, Dieter Gass, is very happy with his driver line up and believes di Grassi and Rast will push each other to higher levels of performance.
“With his impressive performances in Berlin, Rene proved that he feels comfortable in Formula E and at the same time is also fast and successful,” Gass said. “He has absolutely earned his place in our Formula E team. For me, it was extremely important to have two drivers who push each other to peak performance. With Lucas and Rene, we have succeeded in doing this brilliantly.
“Lucas is the most successful driver in the field and extremely hungry to win his second title. Rene has already left an impressive mark in Berlin. We are enjoying his determination year after year in the DTM. I am already looking forward to experiencing it in Formula E.”
