Thomas Laudenback, Porsche's motorsport chief, has confirmed that André Lotterer will indeed leave Formula E to take up a post in the team's LMDh project in the World Endurance Championship
Head of motorsport at Porsche, Thomas Laudenbach has confirmed something that was already public knowledge: André Lotterer will no longer be a Porsche driver in Formula E and will return to the World Endurance Championship in 2023. The manager also made a point of ruling out a double journey for the German, who could split between the two categories. Laudenback highlighted Lotterer's experience with electric single-seaters and confirmed his participation in the LMDh car project.
"André [Lotterer] will not race in Formula E for our team," Laudenback revealed to Autosport. "But there is a difference between racing and having some other role. He obviously has many years of experience in Formula E, so it would be stupid not to use that experience," he assessed.
"Andre has a lot of experience in prototype racing, which is beneficial for us," he continued. "So we decided together that he will move to the LMDh program," he stressed.
Lotterer himself confirmed the decision, although he admitted that the act of leaving Formula E was not an easy one. However, the German confirmed that he also wanted to return to endurance racing and revealed his desire to increase his history in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which he has already participated several times and accumulated three titles - all for Audi.
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"There was a great desire on my part to return to endurance racing, but it was not an easy decision," the German driver acknowledged. "Formula E is very interesting and very competitive, and I'm really enjoying it. I sat down with Porsche and looked at the options, and I think that together, we made the right one," he pointed out.
"I was lucky enough to win three times [at Le Mans], and it's definitely on my list to get more times and make even more history," he stressed. "To do that with Porsche would be great," he added.
The announcement that Lotterer will leave Formula E to return to endurance racing was made at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which ends this Sunday (26) in England. In addition to Lotterer's departure from the team, Laudenback has also not confirmed the permanence of Pascal Wehrlein - who is already involved in testing the team's new Gen3 car.
Lotterer himself was being involved in speculation that he might sign a contract with Andretti for next year, but the possibility was denied by the Porsche boss.
On the other hand, it is already known that Antonio Félix da Costa is packing his bags to leave DS Techeetah and take a starting position at Porsche. Still, Laudenback did not want to make any confirmation about next year's team. "We haven't defined our duo for next season. We'll do it later on," he closed.