LONDON • Daniel Abt parted company with the Audi Formula E team on Tuesday night after letting a professional gamer impersonate him in an official e-sports race.
The manufacturer had earlier suspended the German over the cheating controversy last weekend.
"This virtual sin of mine has consequences in the real world. 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," Abt said in a 15-minute video posted on YouTube.
The 27-year-old denied seeking any sporting gain in Saturday's fifth round of the all-electric series' virtual Race at Home Challenge and insisted he had simply wanted "to create a funny story for the fans".
He added the use of a "ringer" in the form of pro gamer Lorenz Hoerzing had been openly discussed on his Twitch live stream in front of 1,000 followers and no money had changed hands.
"Looking back, we did not think enough about the seriousness and the consequences of the situation. We made a huge mistake there," said Abt, who was disqualified and ordered to make a "compulsory donation" of €10,000 (S$15,600) to charity. "It was never my intention to let another driver drive for me to get a result and keep quiet about it later on just to make me look better."
Audi said in an earlier statement that "integrity, transparency and consistent compliance with applicable rules" were its top priorities.
However, Abt's punishment for something that happened in an online series designed to provide entertainment in the absence of real racing due to the coronavirus pandemic has been deemed an overreaction.
Formula E's championship leader Antonio Felix da Costa feared the motor sport was losing sight of what mattered.
"Do we accept cheating? No, but who never cheated at Monopoly?" said the Portuguese driver on Twitter, before asking people to put things in perspective.
His DS Techeetah teammate and two-time Formula E winner Jean-Eric Vergne said: "After all this (is) a game that should be taken seriously, but it's a game."
Abt finished third in Saturday's race on the virtual Berlin Tempelhof layout, but rivals expressed doubts at the time over the racer's identity. Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne, who finished second, felt something was amiss and tried to contact him without success.
The e-sports series features all of the regular Formula E drivers competing from home and they are visible in their simulators online, although Abt's face was hidden.
The-race.com website said organisers had cross-referenced the IP addresses of competitors and realised someone else, later discovered to be Hoerzing, was at the wheel.
Apologising profusely, Abt said: "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 will come back."
REUTERS
