Daniel's family is no stranger to the world of motorsport. His father Hans-Jürgen, is the owner and team principal of Abt Sportsline which competes in the DTM series, amongst others, as well as being the only German Formula E squad. His uncle, Christian Abt, is a racing driver as well and was active in DTM for a number of years. Daniel went karting for the first time when he was six years old, winning his first seven races. He quickly progressed up the ladder to Formula 3 Euro Series where he made his debut as the youngest driver on the grid in 2011, finishing on the podium three times. A year later the 21-year-old German enjoyed a very successful season in GP3 with the Lotus GP squad securing two wins and seven podiums but just missed out on the title. Last year he competed in GP2 for ART.