While Rene Rast is congratulated on a great career after announcing his departure from Audi, the Ingolstadt-based company also has to put up with criticism
Factory driver Rene Rast’s departure from Audi at the end of the season not only triggered heated discussions among fans about the Ingolstadt company’s motorsport strategy, but also caused reactions among former companions. While many drivers congratulated Rast on his unique career at Audi, which he crowned with three DTM titles, there were also critical nuances on Instagram.
Ex-Audi Head of Sport Dieter Gass thanked Rast and his manager Dennis Rostek for their shared era of success: “You were always loyal and extremely reliable partners on and off the track. Those were the days when you could agree on something over the phone – and know that it would happen exactly as agreed.”
Postscript: “I was fortunate to meet you guys and work with you. And I’m lucky that I know a few others who still think and act that way too. “
“Thank you Audi”: What is Lucas di Grassi thanking you for?
A possible allusion to Gass’ departure as Audi’s head of sport after the 2020 DTM season: the ex-Toyota man, under whose leadership great success was achieved in the Class 1 turbo era in 2019 and 2020, assumed at the time that he would stay on, but was removed against his will and replaced by Julius Seebach.
But Lucas di Grassi’s statement can also be taken in different ways. “Thank you Audi! And welcome to the club,” wrote the Brazilian, who was Rast’s team-mate in the Ingolstadt-based Formula E team last year. The 38-year-old, who brought Audi its only Formula E title in 2017, was simply dropped last year in a similar fashion to Mike Rockenfeller.
While the Abt team, with which Audi implemented the Formula E project, gave him two guest starts in the DTM as a farewell gift, di Grassi’s services were not honoured in any special way with a press release. There was also no official farewell. So is the thank-you to Audi to be read ironically?
And is di Grassi referring to the club of dropped Audi drivers? In any case, everything points to Rast returning to the “Formula E club” at McLaren in the future and then meeting up again with his ex-teammate, who is moving from Venturi to Mahindra.
Audi colleague Mies: Is Rast joining Alpine in Formula 1?
At least Audi driver Chris Mies doesn’t want to believe that. He jokingly speculates on ‘Instagram’: “Going to the Alpine F1 team for sure.” An allusion to the turbulence surrounding young talent Oscar Piastri, who would now prefer to drive for McLaren despite his time in the French team’s junior programme.
Where Rast will drive in the future is also an issue with his ex-Audi rival Laurens Vanthoor, who has been driving for Porsche since 2019 and will be part of Porsche’s LMDh programme in the future after the 2022 DTM year. “Congratulations on what you have achieved,” wrote the Belgian. “But please don’t come to Porsche.”
Vanthoor is not the only DTM rival to write in to Rast. While BMW works driver Marco Wittmann offers applause via emoji, Audi works driver colleague Nico Müller, with whom Rast fought for the title in 2019 and 2020, writes: “Congratulations rocket & here’s to many more encounters!”
Legend Pirro would have loved to race with Rast
Porsche works driver Thomas Preining wishes “all the best for the next chapter” and Abt mate Kelvin van der Linde, who has the same manager with Dennis Rostek, congratulates Rast on his Audi career: “You can be proud of everything you have achieved. I’m happy to be able to share some of those memories with you. “
The two were champions together in the ADAC GT Masters in 2014. But it’s not just current Audi aces who have joined Rast, but also legends of the brand with the four rings.
While Mattias Ekström congratulates Rast on the “good chapter” in his motorsport life, ex-Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro writes: “What a way you have gone! You left your mark everywhere you drove. I’m happy and proud that you wrote a great chapter in the Audi Sport history book – and I’m sorry that we never shared a car.”
How Rast reacted to the enormous response after his announcement? “All your comments, messages and calls from yesterday blow me away,” the 35-year-old from Minden showed himself touched in an ‘Instagram’ post. “Thank you!”