Michael Bartels (born 8 March 1968) is a German professional racing driver. He is a multiple FIA GT champion and former Grand Prix driver who attempted to qualify for four races in with Lotus.
Bartels was the 1985 German karting champion and the 1986 German Formula Ford 1600 champion. He competed in the German Formula Three Championship in 1988 and 1989, before stepping up to International Formula 3000 in 1990.
Bartels filled in at Lotus for Johnny Herbert, who had commitments in Japanese Formula 3000, at four Grands Prix during the Formula One season, but failed to qualify at all four races. Bartels continued in F3000, finishing 4th in 1992, before switching to the DTM in 1994, where he continued to race until the series ended at the end of 1996. Bartels raced in the Super Tourenwagen Cup for the next three years, before the DTM was resurrected in 2000. He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 2000 (in a works Porsche 911 GT3) and 2001 (in a Chrysler Viper GTS-R).After racing in the final year of the V8Star Series in 2003, finishing third behind Pedro Lamy and Thomas Mutsch, he switched to the FIA GT Championship for 2004 with Konrad Motorsport (in a Saleen S7R). For the 2005 season he began racing a Maserati MC12 for his own Bartels Motor & Sport team under the Vitaphone Racing banner, alongside compatriot Timo Scheider. Andrea Bertolini replaced Scheider for 2006 and the pairing won the championship in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Bartels also won the Spa 24 Hours in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | HOC | ZOL | NÜR | AVU | MFA | NOR | NÜR | WUN | DIE | SAL | NC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | Jägermeister Schübel Engineering | Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | DON 1 | DON 2 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | ALE 1 | ALE 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | 15th | 23 | |
| 1995 | Euroteam | Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | NOR 1 10† | NOR 2 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | ALE 1 | ALE 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | 10th | 47 | |||||||||||
| 2000 | Opel Team Phoenix | Opel Astra Coupé 2000 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | SAC 1 | SAC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | 7th | 87 | |||||||||
| 2001 | Opel Team Holzer 2 | Opel Astra Coupé 2001 | HOC QR | HOC CR | NÜR QR | NÜR CR | OSC QR | OSC CR | SAC QR | SAC CR | NOR QR | NOR CR | LAU QR | LAU CR | NÜR QR | NÜR CR | A1R QR | A1R CR | ZAN QR | ZAN CR | HOC QR | HOC CR | 18th | 8 | |||||
| 2002 | OPC Team Holzer | Opel Astra V8 Coupé 2002 | HOC QR | HOC CR | ZOL QR | ZOL CR | DON QR | DON CR | SAC QR | SAC CR | NOR QR | NOR CR | LAU QR | LAU CR | NÜR QR | NÜR CR | A1R QR | A1R CR | ZAN QR | ZAN CR | HOC QR | HOC CR | 15th | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Euroteam | Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | HEL 1 | HEL 2 | DON 1 | DON 2 | EST 1 | EST 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | 26th | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | JAS Motorsport | Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | EST 1 | EST 2 | HEL 1 | HEL 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | INT 1 | INT 2 | SUZ 1 | SUZ 2 | 21st | 16 |
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Vitaphone Racing Team | Maserati MC12 | ABU QR 3 | ABU CR 4 | SIL QR 3 | SIL CR 7 | BRN QR 1 | BRN CR 5 | PRI QR 1 | PRI CR 1 | SPA QR Ret | SPA CR 7 | NÜR QR 10 | NÜR CR 6 | ALG QR 2 | ALG CR 1 | NAV QR 7 | NAV CR 6 | INT QR 8 | INT CR 9 | SAN QR 12 | SAN CR 7 | 1st | 138 |
| 2012 | BMW Team Vita4One | BMW Z4 (E89) | NOG QR 11 | NOG CR 10 | ZOL QR 1 | ZOL CR 2 | NAV QR 3 | NAV QR 5 | SVK QR 3 | SVK CR 1 | ALG QR 2 | ALG CR 5 | SVK QR 1 | SVK CR 1 | MOS QR 10 | MOS CR 7 | NÜR QR 4 | NÜR CR 4 | DON QR 9 | DON CR 9 | 3rd | 144 | ||
From 1992 to 1999, Bartels dated tennis player Steffi Graf.[1]