Audi sacked German driver Daniel Abt from their Formula E team because he "made a conscious decision to go against the rules" in an esports competition, the German carmaker said on Wednesday.
Abt, who announced on Tuesday he had lost his seat, was punished for getting a professional gamer to compete for him in the "Race at Home Challenge", a virtual series involving regular drivers from the all-electric championship. Audi said in a statement that it stood by its culture of tolerating mistakes but what had happened on Saturday was deliberate.
"With Daniel, we celebrated great success and made enormous strides with Formula E," the statement said.