André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

, who most recently competed in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

for

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

. In

formula racing Formula racing, also known as open-wheel racing in North America, is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. A "formula", first devised by FIA for its post–World War II single-seater races, is a set of regulations for ...

, Lotterer competed in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

at the in , and

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

from

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. In Japanese motorsport, Lotterer won the Formula Nippon Championship in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, and is a two-time champion of

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

, all with

TOM'S is an automotive aftermarket parts manufacturer and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, as well as a factory-backed racing team. The TOM'S head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. TOM'S most prominently produces aftermarket parts for current ...

. In endurance racing, Lotterer has won two FIA World Endurance Championship titles, and is a three-time winner of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

with

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

. He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works

team, including three victories in the

and the drivers' title of the

. He has also competed in the Japanese Super Formula and

series for over a decade, becoming champion in

in the former and taking the latter title in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, as well as driving in

for six years. Lotterer was a test driver for the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

team in . Twelve years later, he joined

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge (district), Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valle ...

, replacing

Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese racing driver and motorsport executive, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, Toyota and in Super Formula for KC Motorgroup, KCMG. Kobayashi competed in Formula One from to . In end ...

at the

2014 Belgian Grand Prix The 2014 Belgian Grand Prix (officially the 2014 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, in Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium, on 24 August. It was the twelfth round of the 201 ...

Early life

Born in Duisburg, Lotterer is the son of a German-Peruvian father, Henri Lotterer, and a Belgian mother. He was raised with his mother in Nivelles, Belgium, from an early age, where he began his racing career by karting at the age of seven, effectively becoming an adopted Belgian.

Endurance racing career

Andre Lotterer 2010 Super GT Fuji 400km qualify Super Lap

After his stint with

, he moved to Japan, winning both the

Championship in

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

as well as the Formula Nippon (currently known as Super Formula) Championship in

. Lotterer also made his debut in the

, as a race week fill-in driver for the Kolles privateer

team. Lotterer and co-driver Charles Zwolsman Jr., also a Le Mans rookie, drove the entire race themselves after third driver Narain Karthikeyan dislocated his shoulder in a non-racing related injury. Driving an Audi R10, the car that won the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Le Mans races, Lotterer and Zwolsman finished 7th overall and in the LMP1 class.His impressive performance that year earned him a drive with the works Audi Sport team in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving the new Audi R15 TDI plus. Along with Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer, he finished 2nd overall and in the LMP1 class, despite the rival Peugeot 908s dominating for the first part of the race He remained with Audi Sport to compete in the

2011 24 Hours of Le Mans The 79th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''79e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour Endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance race for 56 teams of three drivers in Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and LM GTE, Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) ...

, co-driving the newly designed

Audi R18 The Audi R18 is a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) racing car constructed by the German Automotive industry, car manufacturer Audi, Audi AG. It is the successor to the Audi R15, Audi R15 TDI. Like its predecessor, the R18 uses a Turbocharged Direct Injec ...

with Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer. After the Audi works team lost two out of three cars due to accidents, Lotterer and his co-drivers held off three Peugeot 908 works cars to claim both 1st place in the LMP1 class and the overall victory, beating the 2nd place Peugeot by a mere 13 seconds. This win gave

a total of 10 overall victories at Le Mans, and Lotterer his first overall win at Le Mans. From 2012 to 2016, Lotterer competed in the

, continuing to drive for Audi Sport Team Joest with the R18. During his tenure with Audi in the WEC, Lotterer won the drivers' championship in the series' inaugural season with Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler. After Audi Sport Team Joest decided not to run in WEC for 2017, Lotterer moved to Porsche as the driver of the No. 1 car with Nick Tandy and 2016 drivers' world champion

Neel Jani Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss people, Swiss professional racing driver. He achieved his greatest success winning the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche's Le Mans Pro ...

. After 2017, Porsche departed the series and from LMP1 competition. Lotterer joined Rebellion Racing for the 2018–19 season, joining Jani and Bruno Senna in the #1 entry. Lotterer returned to the series in

, joining Porsche's Hypercar effort alongside Kévin Estre and

Laurens Vanthoor Laurens Vanthoor (; born 8 May 1991) is a Belgium, Belgian professional racing driver currently racing for Porsche in motorsport, Porsche Motorsport as a Factory-backed, factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He currently reside ...

in the #6 entry. After last competing in the series in 2019, Lotterer stated that he felt like "a stranger" after almost four years away. Lotterer won the drivers' championship for the second time in his career in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

alongside Estre and Vanthoor, winning for the first time in twelve seasons. In December 2024, Lotterer joined

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

alongside Pipo Derani to help spearhead the development of their GMR-001

LMDh LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h) is a set of sports prototype regulations used alongside Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) in both the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championsh ...

prototype.

Single-seater career

Formula One

Reserve role at Jaguar (2001–2003)

Lotterer tested Jaguar F1 cars from 2000 to 2003. He succeeded in both

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and British Formula 3 Championships en route to being named Jaguar Racing's

test driver in 2002. He was passed up for a race seat in 2003 with

Eddie Irvine Edmund "Eddie" Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland, who competed Formula One drivers from the United Kingdom, under the British flag in Formula One from to . Irvine was runner-up in the Formula ...

retiring and Pedro de la Rosa leaving, as the team chose Mark Webber and Antônio Pizzonia instead. In 2002, Lotterer contested a one-off

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

event at the end of 2002 for

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known ...

, scoring a point at the

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a motorsport race track in Mexico City, Mexico, named after the racing drivers Ricardo Rodríguez (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its current name in 1979 after Ricardo ...

Circuit.

Return with Caterham (2014)

He replaced

Caterham F1 The Caterham F1 Team was a Malaysian, later British owned Formula One team based in the United Kingdom which raced under a List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, Malaysian licence. The Caterham brand competed in the Formula One Wo ...

driver

for a one-off race at the

. He qualified 21st place, in front of teammate

Marcus Ericsson Marcus Thorbjörn Ericsson (born 2 September 1990) is a Swedish racing driver, who competes in the IndyCar Series for Andretti Global, Andretti. Ericsson competed in Formula One from to . In American open-wheel racing, Ericsson won the India ...

, but his race lasted just one lap before a mechanical failure put an abrupt end to his F1 debut. He was invited to race again at the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...

, but declined as the team planned to run Roberto Merhi in the car for the first practice session, contrary to his desire to take part in all the available running due to his lack of experience.

CART and Formula 3000

Lotterer made a one-off appearance with

in the final round of the 2002 CART Season in Mexico. He finished 12th, scoring a solitary point. He also took part in a non-championship F3000 event, the Euro F3000 Sprint, at the Bologna Motor Show in December 2002. He drove for the Uboldi Corse SRL team. In a field of 12 identical Lola B99/50-Zyteks, Lotterer was one of only three non-Italians (the others being Sven Heidfeld and Phil Giebler), and the only one to reach the Semi-Finals. He won the event after beating Fabrizio Gollin in the Final.

Formula Nippon/Super Formula

Lotterer hoped to progress to either CART or F3000 full-time for 2003 but ended up switching to Formula Nippon. He would become a mainstay of the series until 2017, scoring 24 wins and securing the 2011 title.

A1 Grand Prix

He made a one-off appearance for Team Germany in Portugal in the final season of

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...

. He retired from the Sprint race and finished 9th in the Feature race, scoring the only points of the season for the former series Champions.

Formula E

Techeetah (2017–2019)

Lotterer joined Formula E with Techeetah in 2017, partnering Jean-Éric Vergne. After a disastrous

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

weekend, where he was disqualified in race 1 and finished 13th in race 2 and a forgettable

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, Lotterer made his first podium in

2018 Santiago ePrix The 2018 Santiago ePrix (formally the 2018 Antofagasta Minerals Santiago E-Prix) was a Formula E Electric motorsport, electric car race held at the Santiago Street Circuit in the Chilean capital city of Santiago on 3 February 2018. It was the f ...

after battling with his teammate Vergne. They helped the team achieve the first 1-2 finish for a team in Formula E, although during the race it looked as though they could have blown it. A charging Lotterer drove into the back of Vergne late in the race and the team were not aware due to a power issue in the paddock. He finished third in

2018 Rome ePrix The 2018 Rome ePrix (formally the 2018 CBMM Niobium Rome E-Prix Presented By Mercedes EQ) was a Formula E Electric motorsport, electric car race held at the Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR in the EUR, Rome, EUR residential and business district of t ...

. He finished the 2017–18 season 8th with 64 points. Lotterer nearly won the 2019 Hong Kong ePrix after leading most laps in the race. He was hit by Sam Bird in the second last lap which lead to his puncture and caused him to finish the race in 14th. In 2019 Rome ePrix he claimed his first pole position in Formula E. He finished the race second after Jaguar's Mitch Evans. The season finished with 4 consecutive races without points, ending the season 8th with 86 points, while his team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne won the championship for a second year.

Porsche (2019–2022)

Lotterer joined newcomer team TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team on 17 July 2019, partnering

António Félix da Costa António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portugal, Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Championship, 2019–20 Formul ...

was announced as his replacement at Techeetah. He made his debut with Porsche at

Diriyah Diriyah (; formerly romanization of Arabic, romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya) is a towns in Saudi Arabia, town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Diriyah was the original home of t ...

finishing 2nd in round 1, and finishing 14th in round 2. Lotterer secured pole for the Mexico City E-Prix, although lost the lead into the first corner and later on retired from the race. Lotterer scored a second place finish in the first of six races in Berlin, and ended the season in 8th with 71 points. Lotterer stayed with Porsche for season 7 and his only podium finish was in the second race in Valencia, which was a second place. Both of the Porsche drivers were disqualified from the first race in Puebla after the team didn't declare the race tyres. Lotterer had finished in 16th, although his team-mate Wehrlein had crossed the finish line first. Lotterer finished the season in 17th with 58 points. After 10 races, Lotterer had a second place in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and is currently 7th with 59 points.

Andretti (2023)

Lotterer was set to depart Formula E at the end of the 2021–22 season. However, he instead signed with

Andretti Autosport Andretti Global is an American motorsports organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, Indy NXT, Formula E, and joint entries in IMSA and the Australian Supercars Championship. Starting in 2026, Andretti will also operate the Cad ...

's Formula E Team, Avalanche Andretti, to partner

Jake Dennis Jake Dennis (born 16 June 1995) is a British racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Andretti Global, Andretti and serves as a factory driver for BMW in motorsport, BMW. Dennis won the 2022–23 Formula E World Championship with Andretti. ...

and replace the outgoing

Oliver Askew Oliver Clark Askew (born December 12, 1996) is an American racing driver. He is the 2019 Indy Lights champion. Racing career Early career Askew began karting at the age of 8 in Jupiter. He finished third and sixth in the Rotax Max Challenge Gra ...

. Lotterer finished the season in a disappointing 18th place, scoring only 23 points, a far cry from teammate Dennis' 229 who became that season's champion. On 8 September, Lotterer announced his exit from the series, stating he would focus solely on the

Reserve role with Porsche (2024)

Despite leaving Formula E full-time, Lotterer continued his involvement in the series, returning to TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team as their test and reserve driver.

Personal life

As of 2004, Lotterer resided in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan. He has since moved to

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

and often visits

Nivelles Nivelles (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstreux. The Nivelles arrondissement ...

, Belgium, the town he was raised in, as well as his hometown

Renningen Renningen () is a town in the district of Böblingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 18 km west of Stuttgart. Geography Renningen is located in the west of Stuttgart, between Leonberg and Weil der Stadt on the fringes of th ...

. Lotterer's hobbies outside of racing include

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

, collecting and driving classic cars,

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, driving buggies, and discovering unique foods. Lotterer is close friends with Jean-Éric Vergne, his teammate from 2017 to 2019, and is also friends with former racing driver - turned Audi Sport ABT Schaffler team principal,

Allan McNish Allan McNish (born 29 December 1969) is a British former racing driver, commentator, and journalist from Scotland. He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2013, as well as a three-time wi ...

Racing record