Pure Adrenaline –
An Interview with Daniel Abt.

You have a great motor racing name and come from a family with a long tradition in motor racing. You are currently a driver for the Audi Sport ABT Formula E Team. What is the appeal of motor racing for you? It is the whole package – the adrenaline and the extreme experience. If you have experienced this feeling once, you are infected by it. I came into contact with motor racing at an early age, of course, and grew up with it. But no one said to me: you must now drive a car. You just love it if you know it better.

The spectators can feel the fascination when you drive your laps. How do you prepare for a race? Motor racing is much harder work, more intensive and more demanding than many people perhaps imagine. For this reason I do a lot of endurance sport and strength training to keep fit. Ultimately, however, the head is the most important thing for concentration. Every driver has his own preparation techniques here. Therefore, I do not want to give any more away.

You have your own pit crew. Engineers ensure that your car delivers top levels of performance. A team spirit must be very important in all this. Do you also regard the fans as part of your team? Your social media explosion on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on YouTube is impressive at any rate. The fans provide motor racing with its lifeblood. And we drivers want to entertain people. This includes the fans knowing what kind of people we are. I would like to show people how important it is to me that they support me and cheer me on during a race. Incidentally, I maintain my social media channels myself. The fans would notice if other people did it for me.

TITANflex recently became the new team and technical partner of the Audi Sport ABT Formula E Team. As far as their requirements for technology are concerned, ABT and TITANflex are on the same wavelength. Both brands stand for high performance. What does the partnership mean to you? A lot. As a driver and team, you rely on good partners. That is how the sport works. The team from TITANflex shares the same values and thinks in a similar way to us. And I am, therefore, looking forward to the collaboration.

You are starting the collaboration as the brand ambassador for TITANflex sunglasses and have even tested special sunglasses for helmet wearers. What were your experiences? I was fascinated by how pleasant the sunglasses were to wear – even under a helmet. Light, comfortable – exactly how sunglasses should be.

Between training, preparation and races, is there enough time left for yourself? How do you relax in your race-free time? As a racing driver, you do not have a normal everyday life. There are very stressful periods in which you are always on the move. And there are periods in which life is much quieter. I enjoy this variety – and I can always find enough time for myself and my private life.

The new Formula E season is going to begin soon. What are your goals for this season? Our goal is, of course, to win both championships – i.e. driver and team. But it is still too early for predictions. For example, we are going to bring completely newly developed engines to the starting grid. I will give my best at any rate.

Then we wish you luck and are looking forward to the collaboration with you.

Showing character

Benno, you worked as a waiter, doorman and scaffolder before studying acting at the renowned Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York. Was acting your primary goal? Yes it was, since my youth. Before that, I wanted to become a journalist. The stage in our school auditorium became an interesting catalyst for my juvenile emotional turmoil. And that has remained the same to this day.

You wear glasses as well as contacts. What is important to you with respect to glasses? Just like clothes, glasses have a very clear task. It is fun, if they fulfil this task with style. In addition to this, glasses must be able to fall to the ground without breaking; they have to be durable to a certain extent and they have to be comfortable to wear.

Has your view of the world changed since you became the father of a daughter? Since then I have made more children’s films. And my home is more important to me. Coming home has a deeper meaning and on bad days I know why I am doing all this nonsense.

You have recently been to Lampedusa with Amnesty International. In addition to this, you show strong commitment to social projects. What drives you? Many people are suffering badly; there is a war in many countries, many people are on the run – we haven’t seen such numbers in this situation since World War II. This is about humanitarian aid but also about welcoming refugees – people who can no longer live in their home country. Who should find protection and who have a right to retain their dignity. Due to the EU policy of turning refugees away, these people can often only come to us illegally. These people are stigmatized. We should become accustomed to talking about the protection of refugees and not so much about protection from refugees. I am also concerned about our environment and the gap between rich and poor.

You will soon be involved in designing glasses. What can we look forward to? To well-designed and stylish spectacle frames without any frills. I’m very much looking forward to this project.

We’re really expectant. Thank you for this interview.