As Audi prepares to kick off its inaugural year in F1, it seems timely that we’re catching some interesting Audi sightings coming from Monaco. Recent social media postings appear to show some of the greatest modern F1 champions sampling something special with four rings, or maybe even just making a grocery run in their chosen daily driver.
One may be worth a mention, while two maybe reveals a pattern. Given this, it was worth drawing attention to what’s being seen. For that, I’m relying on the @monaco_luxurystyle Instagram, an account known for Monaco car-spotting and consistent at identifying their occupants.
MAX VERSTAPPEN + ABT SPORTSLINE
First up is Max Verstappen. Often lauded as perhaps the most competitive driver in F1 in the current era, Red Bull’s star driver is a four time world champion who gave McLaren’s Lando Norris a run for his money even this year despite his notably less competitive car.
Earlier this week, Max was spied cruising down Avenue J.F. Kennedy through Monaco in what appears to be a Daytona Grey Audi RS 6 Legacy Edition – 1 of 200 built by ABT Sportsline. Verstappen has been seen any number of times in this particular car, and now that he’s a dad it seems to be a great fit.
That’s not the only ABT tuned Audi associated with Max. Back in December, Verstappen was spied riding shotgun in an Audi RS Q8 with a a female resembling his wife Kelly Piquet at the wheel. The RS Q8 in question appears to be another grey example of ABT Sportsline’s RS Q8 Legacy Edition from a run of just 125 examples.
FERNANDO ALONSO + LCE SPORT QUATTRO
Next up is two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso. Currently part of the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team, Alonso was spotted just last week in a dark red metallic Audi Sport quattro. The paint color was an obvious tip-off that this may not be an original Sport quattro, and when the car drove by you can clearly see the wheels aren’t stock either. In fact, they’re identical to the wheels being fitted on reimagined Sport quattro replicas being built by LCE Performance, which was confirmed in a post by @LCEPerformance that included photos of the specific car.
You may not know that “LCE” is an acronym for Lake Constance Engineering, denoting the location of the firm that builds these cars. That town also played a critical role in the original development of the Sport quattro back in the 1980s, a subject that came up in a previous podcast with Peter Birtwhistle who was the car’s original designer.
While perhaps unrelated, it’s also worth noting that ABT Sportsline announced a collaboration with LCE Performance earlier this year.
Also worth noting, Alonso isn’t the only renowned professional driver to show in Monaco driving a Sport quattro. Three-time 24 Hour of Le Mans winner André Lotterer logged all three of those Le Mans victories plus an FIA WEC championship while operating as a factory driver in Audi’s R18 LMP1 program. During that time, Lotterer acquired his own original Sport quattro tuned by Hohenester. As a Monaco local, Lotterer has operated his red Sport quattro in and round the principality of Monaco for years.