Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler's Daniel Abt has accused his fellow drivers of cheating with Fanboost.
Fanboost has been part of Formula E since its inaugural 2014/15 season and allows fans to actively play a part in the outcome of the race by voting for their favourite drivers. The top three most popular drivers by vote are then awarded an extra 10kj boost in power during the second half on an ePrix.
In a vlog posted by the driver following the Santiago ePrix, Abt said: "I know you work your asses off to vote for me, and I'm working my ass off to get you involved.
"But then there are some drivers who manage to cheat a bit.
"I'm not saying it because I'm a sore loser, I'm saying it because I know it – somebody told me about it. Definitely there's something wrong."
As one of the most popular drivers on the grid, Abt regularly receives Fanboost race in race out, however, last weekend, the German missed out on the top three positions to Dragon Racing's Jose Maria Lopez while Sebastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi were again in the top three.
This marked the first time in season four that the driver has missed out on Fanboost, having the additional power usage at both rounds in Hong Kong and in Marrakesh last month.
"We were in front [with the votes for last week's Santiago race] the whole time, but suddenly some drivers get a lot of votes overnight," he said.
"Strangely, all the votes are from 12 cities in China. They must have an awesome fanbase there.
"Formula E knows about it, but they can't do anything because they cannot prove it properly. This is a catastrophe. I was getting really upset about it."
While Formula E is working to strengthen voting through numerous means of authentification, Abt has threatened to stop trying to get Fanboost for future events.
"I'm feeling cheated. I know we would win this thing every time, if it was fair. I'm fighting for a fair treatment."
Discussion about this post