Introduction
André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a Belgian-German professional racing driver currently racing for Porsche Motorsport as a factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship LMP1 class. He competes with a Belgian licence, while representing Germany. He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works Audi team, including three victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the drivers' title of the FIA World Endurance Championship. He has also competed in the Japanese Super Formula series for over a decade, winning the title in 2011.
Lotterer was a test driver for the Jaguar Formula One team in 2002, but this did not lead to a race seat. Twelve years later, he joined Caterham, replacing Kamui Kobayashi at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.
Racing career
Early life
Lotterer was born in Duisburg to a German father, Henri Lotterer, and a Belgian mother. He was raised with his Belgian mother in Nivelles and still resides in his hometown to this day. He competes with a Belgian racing licence, yet opts to represent Germany.
Single-seaters
Lotterer succeeded in both German and British Formula 3 Championships en route to being named Jaguar Racing's Formula One test driver in 2002. He was passed up for a race seat in 2003 with Eddie Irvine retiring and Pedro de la Rosa leaving, as the team chose Mark Webber and Antônio Pizzonia instead.
Lotterer contested a one-off Champ Car event at the end of 2002 for Dale Coyne, scoring a point at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Circuit. Since then he moved to Japan doing very well in both Super Formula (formerly Formula Nippon) and the Japanese Super GT Championship for Lexus, winning the latter in 2006 and 2009.
Sportscars
Lotterer also made his debut in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, as a race week fill-in driver for the Kolles privateer Audi team. Lotterer and co-driver Charles Zwolsman, 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 2006, 2007 and 2008 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, co-driving the newly designed Audi R18 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 works Peugeot 908s 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 Audi 10 overall victories at Le Mans and Lotterer his first overall win at Le Mans.
From 2012 to 2016, Lotterer competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for Audi Sport Team Joest with the Audi R18.
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 2016 World champion Neel Jani and Nick Tandy.
Formula One
Jaguar (2002)
Lotterer was the reserve driver for Jaguar Racing in the 2002 Formula One season.
Caterham (2014)
He replaced Caterham F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi for a one-off race at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. He qualified 21st place, in front of team mate Marcus Ericsson, 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, 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.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Formula BMW Junior | 20 | 14 | ? | ? | ? | 318 | 1st | |
| 1999 | Formula BMW ADAC | BMW Rookie Team | 18 | 15 | 9 | ? | 15 | 324 | 1st |
| Eurocup Formula Renault | RC Motorsport | 9 | 1 | ? | ? | ? | 86 | 5th | |
| 2000 | German Formula Three Championship | Opel Team BSR | 20 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 151 | 4th |
| FIA European Formula Three Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 8th | ||
| 2001 | Formula One | Jaguar Racing F1 Team | Test driver | ||||||
| British Formula 3 Championship | Jaguar Junior Team | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 143 | 7th | |
| Masters of Formula 3 | Jaguar Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd | |
| 2002 | Formula One | Jaguar Racing F1 Team | Test driver | ||||||
| FIA GT Championship – N-GT | Freisinger Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 19th | |
| CART | Dale Coyne Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22nd | |
| 2003 | Formula Nippon | Nakajima Racing | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 5th |
| JGTC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 16th | ||
| 2004 | Formula Nippon | Nakajima Racing | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 33 | 2nd |
| JGTC | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 8th | ||
| 2005 | Formula Nippon | Nakajima Racing | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 4th |
| Super GT | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 9th | ||
| 2006 | Formula Nippon | TOM'S Racing | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 3rd |
| Super GT | Toyota Team TOM'S | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 80 | 1st | |
| 2007 | Formula Nippon | TOM'S Racing | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 5th |
| Super GT | Toyota Team TOM'S | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 6th | |
| 2008 | Formula Nippon | Petronas Team TOM'S | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 49 | 3rd |
| Super GT | Toyota Team TOM'S | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 63 | 3rd | |
| 2008–09 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team Germany | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21st |
| 2009 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Kolles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7th |
| Formula Nippon | Petronas Team TOM'S | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 39 | 3rd | |
| Super GT | Lexus Team TOM'S | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 88 | 1st | |
| 2010 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Audi Sport Team Joest | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| Formula Nippon | Petronas Team TOM'S | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 43 | 2nd | |
| Super GT | Lexus Team TOM'S | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 62 | 2nd | |
| 2011 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Audi Sport Team Joest | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 1st |
| Formula Nippon | Petronas Team TOM'S | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 56 | 1st | |
| Super GT | Lexus Team TOM'S | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 8th | |
| 2012 | FIA World Endurance Championship | Audi Sport Team Joest | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 172.5 | 1st |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 1st | ||
| Formula Nippon | Petronas Team TOM'S | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 38 | 4th | |
| 2013 | FIA World Endurance Championship | Audi Sport Team Joest | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 149.25 | 2nd |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 5th | ||
| Super Formula | Petronas Team TOM'S | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 37 | 2nd | |
| 2014 | FIA World Endurance Championship | Audi Sport Team Joest | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 127 | 2nd |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 1st | ||
| Super Formula | Petronas Team TOM'S | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 34.5 | 3rd | |
| Formula One | Caterham F1 Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| 2015 | FIA World Endurance Championship | Audi Sport Team Joest | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 161 | 2nd |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 3rd | ||
| Super Formula | Petronas Team TOM'S | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 40 | 3rd | |
| 2016 | FIA World Endurance Championship | Audi Sport Team Joest | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 104 | 5th |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4th | ||
| Super Formula | VANTELIN Team TOM'S | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 2nd | |
| 2017 | FIA World Endurance Championship | Porsche LMP Team | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 64 | 3rd* |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF | ||
| Super Formula | Vantelin Team TOM's | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 4th* | |
| Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup | Audi Sport Team WRT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC* | |
* Season still in progress.
Complete CART/Champ Car results
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Dale Coyne Racing | Lola B02/00 | Ford XF V8 t | MTY | LBH | MOT | MIL | LS | POR | CHI | TOR | CLE | VAN | MDO | ROA | MTL | DEN | ROC | MIA | SRF | FON | MXC 12 |
22nd | 1 |
Complete Formula Nippon/Super Formula results
(Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Nakajima Racing | SUZ 2 |
FUJ 4 |
MIN 7 |
MOT 6 |
SUZ Ret |
SUG 2 |
FUJ 3 |
MIN 9 |
MOT 5 |
SUZ Ret |
5th | 22 | |
| 2004 | Nakajima Racing | SUZ 2 |
SUG 4 |
MOT 1 |
SUZ 8 |
SUG Ret |
MIN Ret |
SEP 1 |
MOT 3 |
SUZ 7 |
2nd | 33 | ||
| 2005 | Nakajima Racing | MOT 11 |
SUZ Ret |
SUG 9 |
FUJ Ret |
SUZ Ret |
MIN 10 |
FUJ 1 |
MOT Ret |
SUZ 1 |
4th | 20 | ||
| 2006 | TOM'S Racing | FUJ 8 |
SUZ 5 |
MOT 1 |
SUZ 5 |
AUT 8 |
FUJ 2 |
SUG Ret |
MOT Ret |
SUZ 1 |
3rd | 30 | ||
| 2007 | TOM'S Racing | FUJ Ret |
SUZ 5 |
MOT 2 |
OKA Ret |
SUZ 13 |
FUJ 1 |
SUG 7 |
MOT 4 |
SUZ 2 |
5th | 37 | ||
| 2008 | Petronas Team TOM'S | FUJ Ret |
SUZ 3 |
MOT 2 |
OKA 2 |
SUZ 2 |
SUZ 4 |
MOT 11 |
MOT 7 |
FUJ 5 |
FUJ 4 |
SUG 12 |
3rd | 49 |
| 2009 | Petronas Team TOM'S | FUJ 10 |
SUZ 3 |
MOT 5 |
FUJ 8 |
SUZ 7 |
MOT 1 |
AUT 2 |
SUG 2 |
3rd | 39 | |||
| 2010 | Petronas Team TOM'S | SUZ 3 |
MOT 3 |
FUJ 2 |
MOT Ret |
SUG 3 |
AUT 1 |
SUZ 3 |
SUZ 2 |
2nd | 43 | |||
| 2011 | Petronas Team TOM'S | SUZ 1 |
AUT | FUJ 1 |
MOT 2 |
SUZ C |
SUG 1 |
MOT 1 |
MOT 1 |
1st | 56 | |||
| 2012 | Petronas Team TOM'S | SUZ 5 |
MOT 1 |
AUT Ret |
FUJ 1 |
MOT 2 |
SUG 10 |
SUZ 5 |
SUZ 8 |
4th | 38 | |||
| 2013 | Petronas Team TOM'S | SUZ | AUT 1 |
FUJ 1 |
MOT 2 |
SUG 2 |
SUZ | SUZ | 2nd | 37 | ||||
| 2014 | Petronas Team TOM'S | SUZ 6 |
FUJ 4 |
FUJ 1 |
FUJ 6 |
MOT | AUT 1 |
SUG Ret |
SUZ 3 |
SUZ 2 |
3rd | 34.5 | ||
| 2015 | Petronas Team TOM'S | SUZ 1 |
OKA 8 |
FUJ 5 |
MOT 4 |
AUT 11 |
SUG 1 |
SUZ 1 |
SUZ Ret |
3rd | 40 | |||
| 2016 | VANTELIN Team TOM'S | SUZ 7 |
OKA 8 |
FUJ 4 |
MOT 2 |
OKA 12 |
OKA 4 |
SUG 5 |
SUZ 2 |
SUZ 2 |
2nd | 30 | ||
| 2017 | Vantelin Team TOM's | SUZ 5 |
OKA 1 |
OKA 3 |
FUJ 3 |
MOT 7 |
AUT Ret |
SUG |
SUZ |
SUZ |
4th* | 20* |
* Season still in progress.
Complete JGTC/Super GT results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX | GT500 | TAI | FUJ | SUG | FUJ 13 |
FUJ 9 |
MOT Ret |
AUT 2 |
SUZ 12 |
16th | 19 | |
| 2004 | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX | GT500 | TAI 10 |
SUG 4 |
SEP 9 |
TOK 6 |
MOT 1 |
AUT 12 |
SUZ 5 |
8th | 42 | ||
| 2005 | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX | GT500 | OKA 5 |
FUJ 8 |
SEP 5 |
SUG 13 |
MOT 10 |
FUJ 2 |
AUT 14 |
SUZ 10 |
9th | 38 | |
| 2006 | Toyota Team TOM'S | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | SUZ 1 |
OKA 8 |
FUJ 3 |
SEP 15 |
SUG 4 |
SUZ 10 |
MOT 2 |
AUT 7 |
FUJ 4 |
1st | 80 |
| 2007 | Toyota Team TOM'S | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | SUZ 7 |
OKA 5 |
FUJ DNS |
SEP 8 |
SUG 5 |
SUZ 1 |
MOT 6 |
AUT 6 |
FUJ 6 |
6th | 54 |
| 2008 | Toyota Team TOM'S | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | SUZ 3 |
OKA 4 |
FUJ 2 |
SEP 7 |
SUG 10 |
SUZ 3 |
MOT 3 |
AUT 8 |
FUJ 7 |
3rd | 63 |
| 2009 | Lexus Team TOM'S | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | OKA 11 |
SUZ 2 |
FUJ 2 |
SEP 6 |
SUG 7 |
SUZ 8 |
FUJ 3 |
AUT 1 |
MOT 2 |
1st | 88 |
| 2010 | Lexus Team TOM'S | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | SUZ 4 |
OKA 3 |
FUJ 2 |
SEP 8 |
SUG 7 |
SUZ 10 |
FUJ C |
MOT 1 |
2nd | 62 | |
| 2011 | Lexus Team TOM'S | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | OKA 4 |
FUJ 4 |
SEP 6 |
SUG 9 |
SUZ 6 |
FUJ 15 |
AUT 4 |
MOT 8 |
8th | 39 |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 |  Kolles |
 Charles Zwolsman, Jr. Narain Karthikeyan |
Audi R10 TDI | LMP1 | 369 | 7th | 7th |
| 2010 | Audi Sport Team Joest |
 Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R15 TDI plus | LMP1 | 396 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 2011 | Audi Sport Team Joest |
Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R18 TDI | LMP1 | 355 | 1st | 1st |
| 2012 | Audi Sport Team Joest |
Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R18 e-tron quattro | LMP1 | 378 | 1st | 1st |
| 2013 | Audi Sport Team Joest |
Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R18 e-tron quattro | LMP1 | 338 | 5th | 5th |
| 2014 | Audi Sport Team Joest |
Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R18 e-tron quattro | LMP1-H | 379 | 1st | 1st |
| 2015 | Audi Sport Team Joest |
Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R18 e-tron quattro | LMP1 | 393 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 2016 | Audi Sport Team Joest |
Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R18 | LMP1 | 367 | 4th | 4th |
| 2017 | Porsche LMP Team |
Neel Jani Nick Tandy |
Porsche 919 Hybrid | LMP1 | 318 | DNF | DNF |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Audi Sport Team Joest | LMP1 | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | Audi TDI 3.7L Turbo V6 (Hybrid Diesel) |
SEB 11 |
SPA 2 |
LMS 1 |
SIL 1 |
SÃO 2 |
BHR 1 |
FUJ 2 |
SHA 3 |
1st | 172.5 | |
| 2013 | Audi Sport Team Joest | LMP1 | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | Audi TDI 3.7L Turbo V6 (Hybrid Diesel) |
SIL 2 |
SPA 1 |
LMS 5 |
SÃO 1 |
COA 3 |
FUJ 14 |
SHA 1 |
BHR 2 |
2nd | 149.25 | |
| 2014 | Audi Sport Team Joest | LMP1 | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | Audi TDI 4.0 L Turbo V6 (Hybrid Diesel) |
SIL Ret |
SPA 5 |
LMS 1 |
COA 1 |
FUJ 6 |
SHA 4 |
BHR 4 |
SÃO 5 |
2nd | 127 | |
| 2015 | Audi Sport Team Joest | LMP1 | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | Audi TDI 4.0 L Turbo V6 (Hybrid Diesel) |
SIL 1 |
SPA 1 |
LMS 3 |
NÜR 3 |
COA 2 |
FUJ 3 |
SHA 3 |
BHR 2 |
2nd | 161 | |
| 2016 | Audi Sport Team Joest | LMP1 | Audi R18 | Audi TDI 4.0 L Turbo Diesel V6 (Hybrid) |
SIL EX |
SPA 5 |
LMS 4 |
NÜR 3 |
MEX 2 |
COA 6 |
FUJ Ret |
SHA 6 |
BHR 2 |
5th | 104 |
| 2017 | Porsche LMP Team | LMP1 | Porsche 919 Hybrid | Porsche 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) |
SIL 3 |
SPA 4 |
LMS Ret |
NÜR 2 |
MEX 2 |
COA |
FUJ |
SHA |
BHR |
3rd* | 64* |
* Season still in progress.
Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Caterham F1 Team | Caterham CT05 | Renault Energy F1‑2014 1.6 V6 t | AUS | MAL | BHR | CHN | ESP | MON | CAN | AUT | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL Ret |
ITA | SIN | JPN | RUS | USA | BRA | ABU | NC | 0 |