Photo gallery: ABT Cupra's Formula E comeback in the Gen3 era

Back in the paddock: ABT Cupra is officially part of the Formula E circus again for the first time at the preseason tests in Valencia in 2022. With a new partner from the VW Group and a new name, the team will compete as ABT Cupra from season 9. Familiar faces among the drivers instead: With Nico Müller and Robin Frijns, two very well-known faces in Germany will be in the cockpit. Mahindra is the power unit supplier in the Gen3 era.

Exactly 517 days after saying goodbye at the 2021 Berlin E-Prix, ABT Cupra is back in a Formula E race. The comeback took place at the season opener of the ninth Formula E season in Mexico City. However, top results were hardly expected: Due to the short preparation time and the weakening Mahindra drivetrain, a development delay of around 2.5 months was expected. Nevertheless, the entire team exuded enthusiasm and drive for the return to the electric series.

Robin Frijns returned to the team at the home race in Berlin - and how: After it rained on Sunday morning, ABT was the only team to opt for a rain set-up in qualifying. They managed to keep up with the top drivers and both Nico Müller and Robin Frijns qualified for the knockout duels for the first time in the Gen3 era. Both made it through the duels and met in the final. Rain specialist Frijns secured pole position and the very first points for ABT. As expected, the two fell back a little in the race - but Müller managed to stay in the top 10 and also scored his first points in Berlin in ninth place.

A big scare for Robin Frijns at the Rome E-Prix: he was involved in the biggest mass crash in Formula E history. Jaguar driver Sam Bird lost control of his car on a bump in turn 6 and smashed into the wall. As the drivers drive through this section “blind”, the approaching Sebastien drivers were unable to avoid the Jaguar. Buemi, Mortara, Felix da Costa, di Grassi and the aforementioned Robin Frijns were involved in the accident.

“We arrive there at 160 or 170 km/h. I saw the yellow flag, so I took my foot off the accelerator. And suddenly there are two cars in the middle of the track, right on my line. When you brake at that high speed, you lose the rear and that's exactly what happened to me,” says Robin Frijns, describing the incident.

Team-mate Nico Müller was one of the lucky drivers who managed to get past the crash unscathed and was able to take advantage of the fact that many of the top drivers were out of the race. As a result, he battled with Jake Dennis and Jean-Eric Vergne for 4th to 6th place in the final phase. In the final phase, he fought in a group of three with Jake Denis and Jean-Eric Vergne for 4th to 6th place. Even though he was unable to make any more moves against the other two with more energy in the battery, sixth place was the best result for ABT Cupra in season 9 and accordingly made the whole team cheer. The following day, he picked up another point - a noticeable upward trend ahead of the season finale.

Before the 10th season, Formula E icon Lucas di Grassi returned to the team with which he started in the electric series ten years ago and with which he was crowned third champion. He became team-mate to Nico Müller, while Robin Frijns returned to Envision after just one season. ABT celebrated its own Formula E anniversary at the season opener in Mexico: it was to be the team's 100th race, which the two drivers unfortunately finished without points.

First duels since the 2023 Berlin E-Prix: That's what Nico Müller managed in qualifying in Sao Paulo. After a strong fourth place in the group stage, he had to concede to Jean-Eric Vergne in the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, a strong seventh place on the grid. As in the previous year, the race turned into a tight slipstream battle in which Müller had to retire his car after just 29 laps following damage to the front wing.

Tokyo was the first visible point of the ABT upswing, but also of Nico Müller's strong form this season. In the Japanese metropolis, he scored the first points for himself, for ABT Cupra and for manufacturer Mahindra with 7th place. It was to be the first of three points-scoring races in a row.

This race culminates in Misano, Italy, with the best result since the Formula E comeback and a near-podium: Nico Müller was still in third place through the last corner, the cheers in the pits had already erupted - he could already smell the podium. However, Nick Cassidy snatched the podium from the Swiss on the very last centimeters. Nevertheless, ABT is celebrating, as Lucas di Grassi had also scored his first points of the season the day before.

In the run-up to the race, ABT had already announced the end of its partnership with Mahindra and also publicly positioned itself as the new power unit supplier Lola Cars in combination with Yamaha.

Kelvin van der Linde was also deployed in season 10: this time he replaced Nico Müller at the ABT home race, who was also competing in the WEC at Spa. Once again, he was unable to score any points.

At the season finale in Portland and London, Nico Müller in particular turned up the heat once again: With 5th place and 6th place in the USA, the Swiss driver gave his ABT Cupra team its most successful weekend since the Formula E comeback. With these two top six results, the team took 18 points from Portland, more than at any race weekend since its return to the electric series. He cleverly stayed out of incidents in the wind shadow battles and secretly, quietly crept further and further forward. Fifth place is his best result this season. And Lucas di Grassi also set a small exclamation mark by taking part in the knockout duels.

After two seasons with the team, it is time for the Swiss driver to say goodbye: After an expected 29 races, Müller will be leaving the team with which he raced in the DTM from 2016 to 2020 and finished runner-up twice. Their time together in Formula E was not quite as successful: a fourth place in Sunday's race in Misano 2024 was Müller's best result for the team from Kempten. The London E-Prix was his last weekend together with the Kempten team, which he is likely to leave for Andretti.

But it was to be a furioso finale: Nico Müller was given a standing ovation after his final race in London. He confirmed his strong season with two sixth places and finished in the points in four races in a row. Only Pascal Wehrlein and Mitch Evans achieved this at the end of the season. At the end of the season, it almost seemed as if ABT had arrived in the midfield: If you only look at the last four races, the German team is in 5th place in the team championship, as Lucas di Grassi also collected points at the end of the season. Ideal conditions to come back even stronger next season, albeit with at least one new driver:

“Even though I'm leaving with melancholy, it's great to look into so many happy faces in the process,” says Nico Müller, describing the situation. “It's a great feeling to end the season with a sense of achievement that we can all take with us into the summer break.”