Mercedes-AMG has confirmed finalised its team and driver line-up for the 2023 DTM season.
A total of six Mercedes-AMG GT3s across three Customer Racing Teams, all with extended works support, will be running the cars.
2023 will see the continuation of programmes from both Haupt Racing Team (HRT) and WINWARD Racing. In addition, Landgraf Motorsport will make its DTM debut with Mercedes-AMG switching from ADAC GT Masters where the team claimed both the drivers’ championship and runner-up spot in the teams’ standings in the past season.
On the driver front, Lucas Auer will be racing for Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing once again after scoring the runner-up spot in the 2022 DTM. Following an injury Auer incurred in an accident during practice for the Daytona 24-hour race, Auer’s recovery is reported to be making good progress. He plans to be fully ready to run again in time for the DTM season opener at the end of May.
Also returning to WINWARD Racing is David Schumacher, the young driver competed in his first DTM races in 2022.
Mercedes-AMG Team HRT is also running a proven driver combination for the new DTM season: Luca Stolz and Arjun Maini
Stolz has an overall win in the Bathurst 12-hour race to his name. In the 2022 DTM season, he won a race at the Nürburgring and ended up in sixth place in the final drivers’ standings. At the end of 2021, his teammate Maini became the first racing driver from India to stand on the DTM podium. In 2022, the HRT driver confirmed his potential with further good results.
Maro Engel will be in action for Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf. The AMG brand ambassador already raced in the series for Mercedes-AMG from 2008 till 2011 as well as in 2017.
In 2022, the three-time Macau race winner returned to DTM and scored several podium results.
His 2023 teammate Jusuf Owega will benefit from the vast experience of 37-year-old Engel. The 20-year-old from Cologne was part of the ADAC GT Masters field last year and won the season opener at Oschersleben. Owega starred too in the Young Driver Test organised by Mercedes-AMG in Barcelona at the end of last year.
With the driver pairings, Mercedes-AMG provides a balanced mix of experienced drivers and rookies across the three Performance Teams. Arjun Maini, David Schumacher and Jusuf Owega, meanwhile, will be racing as official AMG Junior Drivers, Maini in his third year, Schumacher in his second and Owega as a new addition. They get the chance to prove their talent on the large stage of DTM and receive the according product and know-how support from Mercedes-AMG to do so.
Run under ADAC leadership for the first time in 2023, DTM gets underway at Oschersleben on 27th and 28th May. Until then, it is all about intense preparation for Mercedes-AMG’s teams and drivers. The race schedule consists of eight events with a total of 16 races in Germany, Austria and The Netherlands. The season finale will be held at the Hockenheimring on 21st and 22nd October.
Christoph Sagemüller, head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport: “DTM is not only an illustrious name in German motorsport, it is also one of the world’s most competitive and best-known race series. Moreover, it is closely connected to AMG’s motorsport history, and we have achieved some of our biggest successes as a brand in DTM. Therefore, it is almost obvious for us to be racing with our customer teams again this season. We are happy that this format with its long-standing tradition can now be continued under ADAC leadership and we are also curious to see how the series will develop this year. As the most successful brand in DTM’s all-time statistics, we have set high goals for ourselves in 2023 as well and we want to bring the title back to Affalterbach. To achieve this, we rely on highly professional teams and in terms of drivers on a good mix of promising rookies and seasoned AMG drivers.”
Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing: “In the new DTM season, we focus on three experienced Performance Teams that we will support in an optimal way. Next to the WINWARD Racing and HRT outfits already known from last year’s season, there will be a new representative from us in DTM in Landgraf Motorsport. This team is also highly professional, and we have been working together very well for years already. Last season, Landgraf put in a top performance in ADAC GT Masters, winning the championship with Raffaele Marciello and putting itself forward for the DTM programme by that as well. I am looking forward to the new season and I am very curious to see how our Junior Drivers will do and how they will be able to learn from the established professionals.”
Thomas Jäger, Sporting Director DTM: “For the 2023 DTM season, we are putting a mix of experience and young talents on the grid. Every AMG Junior Driver has an experienced full professional within his team from whom he can learn a lot by watching. From this approach, we expect an intense communication and steep learning curves. Especially as a young driver, one really has to deliver very quickly in DTM as competition is very close. That will be the case again this year. We are highly motivated going into the new season with our teams and we are curious how DTM will present itself under new leadership.”
- 4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT Luca Stolz (GER)
- 36 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT Arjun Maini (IND)
- 48 Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Maro Engel (GER)
- 84 Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Jusuf Owega (GER)
- 22 Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing Lucas Auer (AUT)
- 27 Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing David Schumacher (GER)
