André Lotterer: “I’d like to thank the team and Porsche for three great years”

André Lotterer has thanked the Tag Heuer Porsche FE Team for their efforts during his three years with the outfit as he leaves the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship after the end of the 2021-22 season.

Despite failing to take a victory in his time in the championship – he took second place on four occasions – Lotterer felt it was ‘three great years’ with Porsche, although the end of his final season was not the way he would have wanted to depart.

Lotterer believes Porsche have deserved more successes than they achieved since they joined the grid in 2019 – they have only one victory in that time courtesy of Pascal Wehrlein in the Mexico E-Prix in 2022 – but there were too many lows amongst the highs.

“I’d like to thank the team and Porsche for three great years,” said Lotterer.  “During this time, we experienced many highs and lows together.

“We’d hoped for more successes and we surely deserved them. This year began well for us. Our one-two in Mexico was a big highlight. But the second half of the season turned gnarly, and Seoul wasn’t how I’d imagined my farewell either.

“I’ll miss the team – they’re like family to me. I wish the squad all the very best and great success in the future. I’ll remain with Porsche Motorsport and I’m in good hands there.”

“Mexico was our highlight, of course” – Pascal Wehrlein

Team-mate Wehrlein was also disappointed with the way the 2021-22 season ultimately unfolded, with sixth place the best result aside from his win in Mexico.

The German was an early contender for the Drivers’ Championship thanks to his early form, but the results did not flow as often as he would have liked, and he slid to tenth in the final Drivers’ Championship standings.

Wehrlein will remain with Porsche when the Gen3 era begins in season nine and will be partnered by António Félix da Costa, and he hopes to come back strongly next season.

“At the moment, I’m still feeling disappointed about this weekend and our unfortunate second half of the season,” said Wehrlein.  “Nevertheless, although we didn’t get the results we could have achieved, we showed a lot of potential. 

“Despite everything, there were also many positives. Mexico was our highlight, of course. That’s a feeling we want to experience again as soon as possible.

“I’d like to thank the team for their great support, hard work, and camaraderie, too. We’ll do everything in our power to come back stronger next year and hopefully win many races.”

Pascal Wehrlein ended tenth in the Drivers’ Championship in season eight – Credit: Sam Bloxham, courtesy of FIA Formula E