2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Explained

The 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the thirty-fifth season of the premier German motor racing championship and also the twenty-second season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000.

It was the first season of the DTM to be run under Group GT3 regulations, following the costly two-year "Class 1 Touring Cars" venture that led to Audi and BMW withdrawing manufacturer support from the series.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Maximilian Götz won the drivers' championship in the last race, surrounded by a controversy due to a first-corner collision between his rivals Kelvin van der Linde and Liam Lawson, as well as team orders imposed by Mercedes-AMG in the closing laps.^{[6] [7]}

Rule changes

Technical

• As a consequences of ruthlessly brutal raising costs, after two seasons raced under "Class 1" formula format, the series officially transitioned to FIA GT3 regulation, using its own Balance of Performance.^[8] The move from Class 1 to GT3 attracted more manufacturers and teams that couldn't previously compete in the series due to high cost.^[9] The Class 1 format cars and 2.0-litre (122 cubic inches) turbocharged inline-4 engines that were used in 2019 and 2020 were permanently retired.
• After ten seasons, Hankook terminated their tyre supplier contract with the DTM despite being under contract until 2023. On 1 March 2021, it was announced that Michelin was to provide tyres for the 2021 season.

Sporting

• For the first time since 2001, the series no longer utilises standing starts for the commencement of races. Instead the series introduced its so-called "DTM formation start" in a rolling double-file formation.^[10]

Teams and drivers

All teams competed with tyres supplied by Michelin.

Manufacturer Car Engine Team Status Rounds Audi Audi R8 LMS Evo Audi BXA 5.2 L V10 Team Abt Sportsline Team Abt 3 Kelvin van der Linde All ^[11] ^[12] ^[13] 9 Mike Rockenfeller All 37 Lucas di Grassi 7–8 ^[14] 99 Sophia Flörsch ^[15] Markus Winkelhock 4 ^[16] Team Rosberg 12 Dev Gore 1–3, 5–8 ^[17] ^[18] Christopher Haase 4 ^[19] 51 Nico Müller All BMW BMW M6 GT3 BMW S63 4.4 L Twin Turbo V8 11 Marco Wittmann All ^[20] ^[21] ROWE Racing 16 Timo Glock All ^[22] ^[23] ^[24] 31 All Ferrari Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 Ferrari F154 3.9 L Twin Turbo V8 AlphaTauri AF Corse Red Bull AF Corse 23 Alex Albon 1–7 ^[25] ^[26] Nick Cassidy 8 ^[27] ^[28] 30 Liam Lawson All Lamborghini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 T3 Motorsport 10 Esteban Muth All ^[29] 26 Esmee Hawkey All ^[30] 63 Mirko Bortolotti 6 ^[31] 71 Maximilian Paul 5 ^[32] McLaren McLaren 720S GT3 McLaren M840T 4.0 L Twin Turbo V8 JP Motorsport 15 Christian Klien 3–4, 6 Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT 4 Maximilian Götz All ^[33] ^[34] 5 Vincent Abril All 6 Hubert Haupt 4, 7 ^[35] Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT 7 Luca Stolz 4 ^[36] Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing 8 Daniel Juncadella All ^[37] ^[38] Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport 18 Maximilian Buhk 1–6, 8 ^[39] ^[40] Marvin Dienst 7 ^[41] Mercedes-AMG Team Winward 22 Lucas Auer All ^[42] 57 Philip Ellis All Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed 36 Arjun Maini All ^[43] Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche MA1.76/MDG.G 4.0 L Flat-6 SSR Performance 92 Michael Ammermüller 4 ^[44]

Icon Status Junior Guest drivers ineligible for points

Manufacturer changes

• Mercedes-Benz returned to the series after two years of absence, but acted as a privateer manufacturer.
• Ferrari, McLaren and Lamborghini joined the series for the first time, but acted as privateer manufacturers.
• Audi and BMW remained in the series, but acted as privateer manufacturers.

Team changes

• Hong Kong sports car team GruppeM Racing joined the series for the first time by fielding a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo car.
• Italian sports car team AF Corse joined the series with backing from Red Bull and AlphaTauri by fielding two Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 machines.
• German sports car team Haupt Racing Team joined the series for the first time by fielding two Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo cars.
• American sports car team HTP Winward Motorsport joined the series for the first time by fielding two Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo cars.
• German sports car team ROWE Racing joined the series for the first time by fielding two BMW M6 GT3 cars.
• Polish JP Motorsport joined the series for the first time by fielding a McLaren 720S GT3 car, but only as a guest participant at three rounds.
• German sports car team T3 Motorsport joined the series for the first time by fielding two Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo cars.

Driver changes

Entering DTM

Former Red Bull Formula One driver Alex Albon and Formula 2 driver and Red Bull Junior Team member Liam Lawson entered the series with the Red Bull-backed AF Corse team. Lawson contested the full season combining it with an entry in the Formula 2 Championship, while Albon was scheduled to compete in selected races where they did not clash with Formula One Grand Prix weekends due to his commitments as Red Bull Racing's test and reserve driver. Eventually, Albon only missed the final round at the Norisring, where he was replaced by former Super Formula, Super GT, and current Formula E driver Nick Cassidy.^{[26] [27]}

Gary Paffett was set to come back to the DTM after a two-year absence driving for Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport, with Maximilian Buhk standing in for him in two rounds due to Formula E commitments.^[39] He was eventually forced to abandon these plans because of the COVID-19 restrictions though, and Buhk saw out the season.^[40]

Leaving DTM

Robert Kubica left the series after one season.^[45] Three times DTM champion René Rast left the championship for Formula E Audi full-time entry.^[46]

Race calendar

A preliminary nine-round, eighteen-race calendar was announced on 6 November 2020; four rounds were to be held in Germany, with the remaining five held across Europe.^{[47] [48] [49]}

Igora Drive, Monza and the Norisring – all of which were scheduled to hold events in 2020, before their respective cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic – returned to the calendar, and the Red Bull Ring will hold a round for the first time since 2018. All circuits that held events in 2020 will return in 2021, with the exception of Spa-Francorchamps; Anderstorp and Brands Hatch will also not return, after their rounds were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Igora Drive was cancelled and DTM published a new calendar for the 2021 season. The inclusion of the Norisring round was uncertain as the season began in mid-June and it missed its traditional spot in early July, before it was re-added to the calendar to be held in October as the final round of the season.

Round	Circuit	Location	Race 1	Race 2
1	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	Monza, Lombardy	19 June	20 June
2	Lausitzring (GP Circuit with Banked Turn 1)	Klettwitz, Brandenburg	24 July	25 July
3	Circuit Zolder	Heusden-Zolder, Limburg	7 August	8 August
4	Nürburgring (Sprint Circuit)	Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate	21 August	22 August
5	Red Bull Ring	Spielberg, Styria	4 September	5 September
6	TT Circuit Assen	Assen, Drenthe	18 September	19 September
7	Hockenheimring	Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg	2 October	3 October
8	Norisring	Nuremberg, Bavaria	9 October	10 October
Sources:^[50]

Results and standings

Season summary

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Winning manufacturer	Junior Winner
1	R1	nowrap rowspan=2	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	Vincent Abril	Liam Lawson	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	Ferrari	Liam Lawson
	R2	Kelvin van der Linde	Lucas Auer	Kelvin van der Linde	Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	Sheldon van der Linde
2	R1	Lausitzring (GP Circuit with Banked Turn 1)	nowrap	Sheldon van der Linde	nowrap	Sheldon van der Linde	Philip Ellis	Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	nowrap	Mercedes-AMG	nowrap	Liam Lawson
	R2		Philip Ellis	Kelvin van der Linde	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG	Liam Lawson
3	R1	Circuit Zolder	Kelvin van der Linde	Alex Albon	Kelvin van der Linde	Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	Esteban Muth
	R2		Marco Wittmann	Nico Müller	Marco Wittmann		BMW	Liam Lawson
4	R1	Nürburgring (Sprint Circuit)	nowrap	Kelvin van der Linde	nowrap	Kelvin van der Linde	nowrap	Kelvin van der Linde	Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	nowrap	Sheldon van der Linde
	R2		Alex Albon	Christopher Haase	Alex Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	Ferrari	Esteban Muth
5	R1	Red Bull Ring	Liam Lawson	Esteban Muth	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	Ferrari	Liam Lawson
	R2		Marco Wittmann	Marco Wittmann	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	Ferrari	Liam Lawson
6	R1	TT Circuit Assen	Liam Lawson	Mirko Bortolotti	Marco Wittmann		BMW	Liam Lawson
	R2		Lucas Auer	Mike Rockenfeller			Mercedes-AMG	Liam Lawson
7	R1	Hockenheimring	Kelvin van der Linde	Alex Albon	Kelvin van der Linde	Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	Liam Lawson
	R2		Kelvin van der Linde	Alex Albon	Lucas Auer		Mercedes-AMG	Liam Lawson
8	R1	Norisring	Liam Lawson	Nico Müller	Maximilian Götz		Mercedes-AMG	Liam Lawson
	R2		Liam Lawson	Nick Cassidy			Mercedes-AMG	Sophia Flörsch

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows:

Race Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1

Additionally, the top three placed drivers in qualifying also received points:

Qualifying Position	1st	2nd	3rd
Points	3	2	1

Drivers' championship

Driver MNZ LAU ZOL NÜR RBR ASS HOC NOR Points 1 Maximilian Götz 2^3 10 Ret 1^3 7^2 2 4 4 2^2 3 4^3 6 5 3 1 1 230 2 1 13^2 2 2^2 Ret 3 13 Ret 1^1 1^2 3^1 2^3 4^3 2 3^1 NC^1 227 3 Kelvin van der Linde 4 1^1 4^2 3 1^1 8 1^1 Ret 5 6 12 4 1^1 10^1 4^2 17^2 208 4 Marco Wittmann 8 5 7 6 5^3 1^1 5^3 3^3 7 2^1 1^2 3^2 Ret 11 12 7 171 5 Lucas Auer 12^2 3 6 9 9 5^2 11 6 8 5 10 1^1 Ret^2 1^2 6^3 2 152 6 Alex Albon 3 7 5 11 3 6 Ret 1^1 4 17 Ret 5 2 6 130 7 Philip Ellis Ret 6 1 4^1 8 16 2^2 Ret 3 4 7 12 7 4 10 10 129 8 Mike Rockenfeller 9 8 3^3 8 2 10^3 3 Ret 15 Ret 13 11 3 15 Ret 4 89 9 Daniel Juncadella 5^1 11 Ret 7 Ret 12 8 2^2 11 12 Ret Ret 6 5 7 5 77 10 Nico Müller 7 2 13 10 10 4 7 9 Ret 14 Ret 8 Ret 12 8 15 56 11 11 4^3 9^1 5 16 7 6 Ret Ret Ret^3 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 55 12 Arjun Maini 13 Ret Ret 12 Ret DNS 10 13 6^3 7 Ret 13 Ret 8^3 2 6 48 13 10 9 8 Ret 6 9 14 5 14 13 8 10 8 Ret 11 Ret 41 14 Vincent Abril DSQ DSQ Ret 14 4 Ret 12 8 9 8 Ret 9 9 9 14 8 34 15 Maximilian Buhk 6 12 10 18 Ret 11 Ret Ret 12 9 Ret 15 9 3 28 16 Nick Cassidy 5 13^3 11 17 Timo Glock 16 Ret 11 13 11 17 19 7 10 10 Ret 14 10 14 Ret 11 9 18 15 15 Ret 15 15 Ret 17 15 9 16 12 Ret 13 9 8 19 Marvin Dienst 11 7 6 20 Esmee Hawkey 14 16 Ret 16 13 13 17 11 16 16 11 Ret 14 16 Ret Ret 2 21 Christopher Haase Ret 10 1 22 Dev Gore Ret 14 12 17 14 15 Ret Ret DNS 17 16 17 16 14 0 23 Markus Winkelhock 16 14 0 Guest drivers ineligible to score points — Mirko Bortolotti 2 7 — — Christian Klien 12 14 15 12 5 Ret — — Luca Stolz 9 Ret — — Maximilian Paul 13 11 — — Lucas di Grassi 15 Ret 15 12 — — Hubert Haupt 18 Ret 13 13 — — Michael Ammermüller Ret Ret — Driver MNZ LAU ZOL NÜR RBR ASS HOC NOR Points

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap 1 – 3 Points for Pole 2 – 2 Points for P2 3 – 1 Point for P3

Teams' championship

	Team	Points
1	Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse	368
2	Team Abt Sportsline	296
3	Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	281
4	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	262
5	Walkenhorst Motorsport	171
6	Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing	77
7	ROWE Racing	64
8	Team Rosberg	55
9	Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed	48
10	T3 Motorsport	43
11	Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport	34
12	Team Abt	8

Manufacturers' championship

Only points scored by the top three drivers of a manufacturer in races count for the manufacturers' championship.

	Manufacturer	Points
1	Mercedes-AMG	617
2	Ferrari	368
3	Audi	359
4	BMW	235
5	Lamborghini	43

Notes and References

1. Web site: BMW Motorsport and the DTM: The End of an Era.. 2021-07-21. www.bmw-motorsport.com. en-SM.
2. Web site: DTM future secured with support from Audi and BMW. 2021-07-21. www.motorsport.com. en.
3. Web site: DTM 2021: Full list of drivers, teams and manufacturers. 2021-07-21. www.msn.com.
4. Web site: Mercedes to support customer teams in DTM. 2021-07-21. www.motorsport.com. en.
5. Web site: Aston Martin DTM entry announced for 2019. 2021-07-21. www.motorsport.com. en.
6. News: Norisring DTM: Gotz wins title after Mercedes imposes team orders. Motorsport.com. 10 October 2021.
7. News: Lawson hits out at "idiot" van der Linde after losing DTM title. Motorsport.com. 11 October 2021.
8. Web site: NWNAdmin. What to watch for as the DTM's brave new era begins ». 2021-07-21. networthynewz.com. en-US.
9. Web site: Berger targeting 20 cars, five manufacturers in DTM 2021. 2021-07-21. www.motorsport.com. en.
10. Web site: Dagys. John. Standing Starts Abandoned; Driver Aids Retained for GT3 Era – Sportscar365. 2021-07-21. sportscar365.com. en-US.
11. Web site: Who is driving in the GT3-based DTM this year?. 2021-04-07. Motorsport.com.
12. Web site: Lloyd. Daniel. 17 December 2020. Abt to Maintain Series Presence with Audi GT3. live. 17 December 2020. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. https://web.archive.org/web/20201217124010/https://sportscar365.com/other-series/dtm/abt-to-maintain-series-presence-with-audi-gt3-entry/ . 17 December 2020 .
13. News: Rockenfeller and van der Linde For 2021 DTM In Abt Audis. 5 March 2021. Dailysportscar. 5 March 2021.
14. Web site: 20 September 2021. DTM-Sensation: Abt schenkt di Grassi Gaststarts zum Abschied. 20 September 2021. de-DE. motorsport-magazin.com.
15. Web site: Ghiotto, Floersch set to race in DTM in 2021. Haidinger. Sven. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. 20 March 2021. 21 March 2021.
16. Web site: Winkelhock set to make DTM return at the Nurburgring. Motorsport.com. 4 August 2021. 19 August 2021.
17. Web site: Thukral. Rachit. 23 December 2020. Team Rosberg becomes second ex-Audi squad to confirm DTM stay. 23 December 2020. Motorsport.com.
18. Web site: Mueller, Gore to Drive Rosberg Audis. 2 March 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 2 March 2021.
19. Web site: Thukral. Rachit. 19 August 2021. Haase to make DTM debut with Audi squad at Nürburgring. 19 August 2021. Motorsport.com.
20. Web site: DTM 2021: BMW von Walkenhorst Motorsport bestätigt. 2021-02-16. motorsport-magazin.com. 16 February 2021 . de.
21. Web site: Offiziell: Marco Wittmann startet 2021 im Walkenhorst-BMW in der DTM. 2021-04-06. Motorsport-Total.com. de.
22. Web site: ROWE Confirms DTM Program with BMW. 1 March 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 1 March 2021.
23. Web site: Van der Linde Maintains Series Presence with ROWE Drive. 17 March 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 17 March 2021.
24. Web site: ROWE Confirms DTM Program with BMW. 25 March 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 25 March 2021.
25. Web site: Red Bulls DTM-Comeback mit Ferrari: Die Hintergründe von Bergers Coup. 2021-01-13. Motorsport-Total.com. de.
26. Web site: F1 exile Alex Albon to compete in DTM with Red Bull backing. 2021-01-04. www.motorsport.com. en.
27. Web site: Red Bull reveals DTM plans for Albon as Cassidy joins line-up. Thukral. Rachit. 2 February 2021. Motorsport.com. 1 February 2021.
28. Web site: Thukral. Rachit. Cassidy to replace Albon in DTM finale at Norisring. Motorsport.com. 6 October 2021. 6 October 2021.
29. Web site: Lamborghini to be represented in DTM by T3 Motorsport. 2021-04-28. Motorsport.com.
30. Web site: Hawkey secures DTM move with Lamborghini squad. 10 June 2021. Motorsport.com.
31. Web site: Bortolotti to Drive T3 Motorsport Lamborghini at Assen. en-GB. 9 September 2021. sportscar365.com.
32. Web site: DTM Red Bull Ring: Maximilian Paul gibt Debüt im T3-Lamborghini. de. 27 August 2021. motorsport-magazin.com. 27 August 2021 .
33. Web site: HRT Announces Two-Car Entry with Mercedes-AMG. 2 March 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 2 March 2021.
34. Web site: Haupt-Mercedes: Chef gibt Comeback - und wer die DTM-Stammcockpits kriegt. 2021-03-25. Motorsport-Total.com. de.
35. Web site: Ex-Audi, Opel driver Haupt to make DTM comeback at 52 . 13 July 2021 . 13 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210713155333/https://www.autosport.com/dtm/news/ex-audi-opel-driver-haupt-to-make-dtm-comeback-at-52/6629605/ . dead .
36. Web site: Mercedes set to add ninth car for Nurburgring DTM races. 10 August 2021. Motorsport.com.
37. Web site: Dagys. John. 24 November 2020. GruppeM Commits to DTM with Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. 24 November 2020. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media.
38. Web site: Juncadella to Drive GruppeM Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. 22 March 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 22 March 2021.
39. Web site: Buhk to Sub for Paffett at Two Rounds Due to Formula E Clashes. 15 June 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 15 June 2021.
40. Web site: Paffett forced to abandon plans to return to DTM in 2021. 12 August 2021. Motorsport.com.
41. Web site: Marvin Dienst steigt für Maximilian Buhk in Hockenheim ins Space Drive-Cockpit. 17 September 2021. de-DE. motorsport-xl.de. 17 September 2021.
42. Web site: Winward Joins with Mercedes-AMGs for Auer, Ellis. 8 March 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 8 March 2021.
43. Web site: GetSpeeds Schlüssel zum Einstieg: Ex-Haas-Tester soll erster DTM-Inder werden. 2021-03-25. Motorsport-Total.com. de.
44. Web site: GT Masters Champions Enter Nürburgring with Porsche. 16 August 2021. Lloyd. Daniel. sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 16 August 2021.
45. Web site: Kubica rules out DTM return, will target full-time LMP2 move. Watkins. Gary. 28 January 2021. Autosport. 2 February 2021.
46. Web site: Thukral . Rachit . Rene Rast confirms he won't return to the DTM in 2021 . www.motorsport.com . 18 February 2021 . en.
47. News: More than just a race series: DTM as the core of a motorsport event platform with five pillars. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. ITR e.V.. 6 November 2020. 6 November 2020.
48. News: Rachit. Thukral. DTM opts for spec-GT3 cars from 2021. Autosport. Motorsport Network. 6 November 2020. 6 November 2020.
49. News: 2021 DTM calendar confirmed with nine race weekends. TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Group AB. 6 November 2020. 6 November 2020.
50. News: Norisring to host 2021 DTM season finale in October . Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. 28 July 2021. 28 July 2021.