Global sponsorship in motorsports
Schaeffler is active in many areas of motorsport and has always been a pioneer. Among other things, Schaeffler has been a successful participant in the FIA Formula E, the world’s first all-electric formula racing series, since its inception. The two Schaeffler brand ambassadors, Carrie Schreiner and Max Hesse, will primarily compete in GT motorsports in 2026.
Through its involvement in Formula Student, a design competition for students, Schaeffler offers a fascinating mix of motorsport and engineering skill. Schaeffler has been supporting teams with its expertise and products here for many years. The Hall of Fame includes all of Schaeffler’s previous areas of involvement. From desert rallies and tractor pulling events through to the European Truck Racing Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Schaeffler has a long track record in motorsport.
GT Racing / Formula 1 Academy
Carrie Schreiner: Pioneer on the road to success
Schaeffler brand ambassador Carrie Schreiner will continue her career in GT racing in 2026. She is moving up from the ADAC GT Masters series to the GT World Challenge Europe and will now represent Schaeffler on world-renowned circuits across Europe.
After a season in the ADAC GT Masters, Carrie Schreiner is returning to the international stage in 2026. The Schaeffler brand ambassador will compete in the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWC Europe), where she will take part in nine endurance and four sprint race weekends. Alongside the DTM, the GTWC is not only considered the strongest GT series in the world, but also gives Carrie the opportunity to prove her skills on legendary circuits: racing takes place exclusively on current or former Formula 1 tracks.
Carrie Schreiner already had contact with Formula 1 in 2023 and 2024, when she became the first German to compete in the Formula 1 Academy. The series, in which only women compete, holds all of its races as part of the support program for the premier class of motorsport. Driving for the Academy team of the Sauber Formula 1 team, Carrie finished ninth in the overall standings in 2024, having already celebrated a highly acclaimed victory in her debut season.
Another focus of Carrie Schreiner’s 2026 season is the Nürburgring Nordschleife, where, in addition to the legendary 24-hour race, she will compete in several rounds of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) for the “Girls Only Team.”
Max Hesse: the rising star
As a BMW M factory driver, Max Hesse has had a picture-perfect career, rising from junior driver to professional racer. This makes the young German the perfect role model for young and motivated Schaeffler employees.
As recently as 2022, Max Hesse was racing for the BMW Junior Team – today, he has established himself among the world’s top GT drivers. He has been part of the Schaeffler family as a brand ambassador since 2025. He says, “Wearing Schaeffler green on and off the track makes me proud, and I hope this is just the beginning.”
Right from his first season in Schaeffler green, Max has made a name for himself with his successes. In 2025, he was crowned IMSA Endurance Champion and, in addition to the Dubai 24-Hour Race, he also won the historic 24-hour race at Daytona in early 2026.
In the current racing season, Max is competing in the GT World Challenge Europe, among other series, where he will meet Schaeffler brand ambassador Carrie Schreiner. He will also be on the starting grid for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. There, Max and Carrie will meet other Schaeffler brand ambassadors. Two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann and Markus Winkelhock, driver of the Schaeffler innovation taxi, will also be competing in the historic 24-hour race.
Formula Student
The engineering competition for students
Motorsport is demanding for all those involved. Competition combines technical expertise, dedication, and a passion for innovation. These are qualities that also motivate the young inventors competing in the Formula Student design competition to deliver top performance year after year. Schaeffler has been supporting Formula Student teams with its expertise and products since 2006.
Formula student gives budding engineers a unique opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge in practice and bring their ideas to the racetrack. The rules give the Formula Student teams one year to not only develop and build their own racecars, but to market them as well. The final ranking is thus based on important economic aspects in addition to technology and racing performance. In their fictitious companies, the students also simulate the marketing and sale of their cars, draw up business plans, and coordinate the costs. On this basis, they then participate in competitions in various disciplines throughout the world.
This successful concept makes the competition and its participants very interesting from an industry perspective. The technology company supports the Formula Student teams with funding and, more specifically, with its products and technological expertise. Schaeffler has also been the competition’s main sponsor in Germany since 2014. Formula Student is a commitment that is paying off, continuously providing a point of entry into the company for valuable employees.
“Formula Student combines innovation and passion with the desire to succeed as a team and to break new ground together – a key to success that we at Schaeffler, as a leading motion technology company, also recognize and value. That is why we are proud supporters of Formula Student,” says Astrid Fontaine, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Human Resources Officer at Schaeffler AG.
Pioneers in FIA Formula E
Electrifying fully-electric motor racing takes place in the heart of some of the biggest cities in the world. FIA Formula E has captured the spirit of the times. Schaeffler Motorsport has been involved since the very start of the world’s first fully-electric Formula racing series. Schaeffler know-how in the field of electromobility, a strong team in Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, and experienced drivers have made Schaeffler’s involvement in FIA Formula E a total success up to 2021.
To stage the first fully-electric racing series in the world – Schaeffler showed great foresight for the motorsport of the future when it got behind this idea from the word go. When the inaugural 2014/2015 season got underway, the company was one of the protagonists on the Formula E scene, underlining as an electromobility pioneer both on and off the track. Sporting success came immediately when Schaeffler driver Lucas di Grassi won the very first race in the series, ensuring the company name went down in the FIA Formula E history books.
Drivers’ title with Schaeffler Powertrain System
From the 2015/2016 season onwards, Formula E regulations permitted teams to develop their own electric powertrain, consisting of an electric motor, gearbox, parts of the chassis and the relevant software.
Working together with ABT Sportsline, Schaeffler developed its own powertrain system for competitive racing for the first time in the history of the company. The successful partnership with ABT peaked with the shared celebration of Lucas di Grassi’s drivers’ title in the third season, 2016/2017.
Team title also goes to Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
One year later, car-maker Audi entered the series on a works basis. Schaeffler also provided the electric powertrain, the heart of the car, for the newly formed Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team. The season culminated in a thrilling finale in New York. Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi secured the points they needed in the final two races of 2017/18 to secure the team championship title.
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler celebrated numerous further successes before Schaeffler’s involvement in Formula E came to an end in 2021. Boasting two titles and 47 trophies, the team became one of the most successful participants in the first six years of the fully electric racing series and produced the most successful driver, Lucas di Grassi. At the end of the 2021 season, the Brazilian driver topped the all-time driver rankings with 36 podiums, including twelve wins, and 908 points.
The period of involvement in Formula E was a hugely successful time for Schaeffler, as the pioneering company played a key role in the race series from the word go. Schaeffler is now focusing primarily on the DTM in terms of motor racing involvement.
Schaeffler Motorsport Hall of Fame
Schaeffler has been involved in motorsport for decades, and in addition to major motorsport series like Formula E and the DTM, the company also actively sponsors other series and events. The Schaeffler Motorsport Hall of Fame provides an overview, and it highlights how firmly rooted the company is in the motorsport sector and thus how it continuously tests its expertise on racetracks and rally courses throughout the world.
Desert rallies
Tough endurance tests
In the German-speaking region, there is hardly a more experienced expert in off-road racing than Armin Schwarz. Having been active in the World Rally Championship for many years, the native of Franconia has been competing since 2006 in 800-hp Trophy Trucks in the SCORE International desert racing series and the Baja 1000, the season’s pinnacle event. Schaeffler and Schwarz have been enjoying a partnership for many years. In 1986, for instance, on winning the title in the Mitropa Rally Cup, the company’s brand ambassador was racing in an Audi 80 quattro wrapped in a livery featuring Schaeffler’s INA product brand.
24 hours of Nürburgring
Twice around the clock
A motorsport highlight for Pros and a fascinating challenge for privateers – the 24 Hours of Nürburgring are the major endurance race on German soil. Schaeffler brand ambassador Carrie Schreiner made it onto the podium in the SP8T class at the Green Hell in 2022. In 2013, Schaeffler sponsored Bonk Motorsport. The family-owned outfit won the GT4 class with a BMW M3.
Tractor Pulling
Kings of motorsport
Clutches from Schaeffler’s LuK product brand help transfer the 8,000 horsepower of the pulling tractors to the ground. In 2012 and 2013, the Le Coiffeur Tractor Pulling team from Bad Iburg in the 2.5-ton class even competes with a 4,000-hp tractor sporting Schaeffler’s colors and celebrates success after success.
500 miles of Indianapolis
In a different day …
More than 100 years ago, the “Marmon Wasp” race car won the legendary “Indy 500” – not least thanks to ball bearings from Schaeffler’s FAG product brand.
WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans
The measure of all things
High speed and high tech – the WEC (FIA World Endurance Championship) combines both in special ways, which makes the series an attractive stage on which to demonstrate the innovative power of high-end hybrid sports cars, energy efficiency being the magic word.
In 2014, following Porsche’s return, Schaeffler becomes a partner of the premium manufacturer. This corporate pairing soon emerges as the measure of all things. From 2015 to 2017 Schaeffler and Porsche celebrate the double world championship three times in succession and thus go down in WEC history.
Schaeffler and Porsche are unbeatable also in each season’s pinnacle event at Le Mans, in which the drivers are on track four times as long as in the season’s other races. In the winning car of 1970 and 1971, the Porsche 917, bucket tappets of Schaeffler’s INA product brand were operating.
Dakar Rally
A desert adventure
Be it in the 1980 VW Iltis, in Jutta Kleinschmidt’s Mitsubishi Pajero or in the VW Race Touareg – products from Schaeffler were used in all of these winning vehicles.
LuK Clutch Challenge
An American dream
In 1989 and 1990, LuK was the title sponsor of a touring car championship in the United States in order to enhance the brand’s popularity overseas.
European Truck Championship
Shaking the earth
5.5 metric tons of weight, 1,100 horsepower, 5,600 newton meters of torque – the “monsters” of the European Truck Championship are the largest, heaviest and most powerful circuit racing vehicles.
NASCAR Mexico
Olé!
Schaeffler was involved in the Central American series for four years. The title win by Mexican Jorge Goeters in 2012 marked the highlight of this commitment.