Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt were both confirmed to return as race drivers for Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler at the Zurich E-Prix in June.
Nico Mueller is expected to continue in a test and development role but the team hasn’t confirmed this yet.
Audi says its new Gen 2 car has been “prepared meticulously for the new technical and strategic challenges.”
The team had poor reliability in the opening few races of the 2017-18 season when a tiny fault on a PCP part, believed to be from a memory board on some of its inverters, was found.
Audi bounced back with Abt winning Mexico City and di Grassi finishing first or second at each of the last seven races.
The new car’s drivetrain is a significant evolution of the outgoing car, while emphasis has been placed on weight reduction and increased efficiency.
“We retained the basic concept with one gear and at the same time refined the details and manufactured all of the parts,” said Audi Formula E project leader Tristan Summerscale.
“Ninety-five percent of the drivetrain parts are new and the engineers were able to shave ten percent off the weight.”
Abt is impressed with the performance, saying: “When I head out onto the racetrack with the other cars, I feel like I’m in a science fiction movie.
“Compared to its predecessor, the new model has a considerably more aggressive design.”
The team is expected to retain broadly the same sporting and technical structure, with Allan McNish continuing as team principal, working alongside Audi Sport boss Dieter Gass and Abt sporting director Thomas Biermaier.
Virgin Racing, which will use customer Audi powertrains this season, will launch its 2018-19 program at Silverstone on Friday.
Source: E racing 365
