Lola separates from ABT & takes over Formula E operation in the Gen4 era

Big bang in Formula E on Tuesday: Lola has announced that it will no longer be working with the German team ABT Sportsline from the end of the 2025/26 season. This will be the second time that the ABT name has disappeared from the electric series after the twelfth Formula E season. Instead, Lola will run the Gen4 cars in Formula E on its own from the end of 2026.

A statement from Mark Preston, Team Principal of Lola Yamaha ABT and Motorsport Director of Lola Cars, announces a strategic reorientation of the Formula E project, which has so far been contested jointly with technical partner Yamaha and the ABT Sportsline entry team.

"With the continued growth of the organisation, long-term commitment to Formula E and additional projects in the pipeline, Lola Cars has made the decision to consolidate its Formula E operations in-house at our Silverstone HQ," the statement read.

And further: "This will enable us to streamline activities, increase expertise for upcoming projects and better drive innovation through motorsport. ABT were our partner of choice to operate the team as we entered the all-electric racing series, with vast experience and technical expertise within Formula E. We'd like to thank them for all of their hard work and dedication during our first two seasons in the sport and look forward to continuing to collaborate with them for the remainder of Season 12."

A statement from Team Principal Mark Preston.

More ➡️ https://t.co/Ix0oH6aAj3 pic.twitter.com/IG5DGJilYU

— Lola Yamaha ABT (@Lola_Yamaha_ABT) January 27, 2026

In concrete terms, this means that the ABT team will withdraw from the joint project and thus from Formula E at the end of the season. Instead, Lola will operate the cars itself in future. This had already been announced in the past: the team already raced under the British flag instead of the German flag in the 2024/25 season. The (German) PR team was also replaced. Before the start of the 2025/26 season, there was a change at the top of the team, with Mark Preston taking over the role of team principal from ABT CEO Thomas Biermaier, who wanted to focus more on the GT3 series following Martin Tomczyk's departure from the DTM team management.

Biermaier: "ABT will step out of Formula E"

In a statement received by e-Formula.news at the request of ABT Sportsline, CEO Thomas Biermaier announced: "ABT will step out of Formula E at the end of this season. Lola holds the series entry and has chosen to bring its Formula E operations in-house at Silverstone. We respect that strategic decision."

"Our collaboration achieved its goal of establishing astrong operational foundation for their entry." Biermaier announced "full commitment" for the rest of the season: "We remain fully focused on delivering the best possible results this season and will ensure a transparent and honest transition."

However, the Formula E chapter is not completely closed: "We are not closing the door on a future return if the right opportunity arises. If the competitive, commercial and financial framework is right, we will reassess. We have no commitments or active discussions regarding Gen4 or alternative manufacturers at this time."

The history of ABT in Formula E

ABT has a long, successful history in Formula E: as one of the founding teams, it has been involved since the first race, which it won. Initially with Audi as its technical partner, the manufacturer took over the team in the summer of 2017 and continued to run it as the Audi works team. Nevertheless, ABT was Audi's entry team until Audi withdrew from Formula E at the end of the 2021 season.

After a year away from Formula E, ABT returned to the electric series for the 2023 season with title sponsor Cupra and drive systems from Mahindra. After two seasons at the back of the field, the separation from drive supplier Mahindra was followed by a partnership with Lola Cars from season 11 (end of 2024), which later led to the takeover of operational use.</p

Team ABT has won a total of 14 E-Prix to date, the 2016/17 drivers' title with Lucas di Grassi and the 2017/18 team title with di Grassi and Daniel Abt. 1,490 points put the team in fourth place in the all-time leaderboard behind Nissan (including e.dams), Envision Racing and Jaguar.

But before this traditional name disappears from Formula E, the Lola Yamaha ABT team still has 15 more races to go in season 12. The first of these is already on the calendar on Saturday: the third Miami E-Prix will be held in Florida.