The 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the thirty-fifth season of premier German touring car championship and also twenty-second season under the moniker of

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB- FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The s ...

since the series' resumption in 2000. It was the first season of the DTM to be run under

Group GT3 Group GT3, known technically as Cup Grand Touring Cars and commonly referred to as simply GT3, is a set of regulations maintained by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for grand tourer racing cars designed for use in various au ...

regulations, following the costly two-year "

Class 1 Touring Cars Class 1 Touring Cars refers to two generations of prototype silhouette-style touring car regulations employed by the FIA. First generation (1993-1996) The first generation was a production-based formula introduced in 1993 along with Class 2 Tourin ...

" venture that led to

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

and BMW withdrawing manufacturer support from the series.

Maximilian Götz Maximilian Götz (born 4 February 1986) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as International Formula Master and the Formula 3 Euro Series. He won the 2003 Formula BMW ADAC season, taking six victories. He also won the 202 ...

controversially won the championship in the last race following both a first-corner collision between his rivals

Kelvin van der Linde Kelvin van der Linde (born 20 June 1996) is a South African racing driver currently competing as a substitute driver in Formula E with the ABT Team. He made his GT Masters debut in 2014, also winning the championship that year, a feat he rep ...

and

Liam Lawson Liam Lawson (born 11 February 2002) is a New Zealand motor racing driver set to compete in the 2023 Super Formula Championship with Team Mugen. Lawson, who is mentored by three-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner Ken Smith, previously competed f ...

and

team orders In motor racing, team orders is the practice of teams issuing instructions to drivers to deviate from the normal practice of racing against each other as they would against other teams' drivers. This can be accomplished either in advance, simply ...

imposed by

Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles. The company has its headquarters in A ...

Rule changes

Technical

* After two seasons raced under " Class 1" formula format, the series officially transitioned to FIA GT3 regulation, using its own Balance of Performance. The move from Class 1 to GT3 attracted more manufacturers and teams that couldn't previously compete in the series due to high cost. The Class 1 format cars and 2.0-

litre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3 ...

(122

cubic inch The cubic inch (symbol in3) is a unit of volume in the Imperial units and United States customary units systems. It is the volume of a cube with each of its three dimensions (length, width, and height) being one inch long which is equivalent ...

es) turbocharged inline-4 engines that were used in 2019 and 2020 were permanently retired. * After ten seasons,

Hankook Hankook Tire & Technology (; , also known simply as Hankook and stylised ), is a South Korean tire company. Based in Seoul, Hankook is the seventh largest tire company in the world. History Hankook Tire was established by Jae Hun Chung's grandf ...

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.

Teams and drivers

All teams competed with tyres supplied by Michelin.

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 the backing from Red Bull 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 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver

Alex Albon Alexander Albon Ansusinha ( th, อเล็กซานเดอร์ อัลบอน อังศุสิงห์; , , born 23 March 1996) is a Thai-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Williams Racing, under th ...

and

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name re ...

driver and

Red Bull Junior Team The Red Bull Junior Team is a driver development program run by the energy drink company Red Bull GmbH in an attempt to identify potential future racing stars in open wheel racing. The similar Red Bull Driver Search, now ended, was an American ...

member

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 The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...

, where he was replaced by former Super Formula, Super GT, and current Formula E driver

Nick Cassidy Nick Cassidy (born 19 August 1994) is a New Zealand racing driver, currently competing in Formula E for Envision Racing, and in the World Endurance Championship and Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters with AF Corse. He has won the 2017 championship in ...

Gary Paffett Gary Paffett (born 24 March 1981 in Bromley) is a British racing driver. Having become a household name in the DTM, following fifteen years in the series and two championship wins, Paffett moved onto Formula E for the 2018/19 championship, afte ...

was set to come back to the DTM after a two-year absence driving for Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport, with

Maximilian Buhk Maximilian Buhk (born 9 December 1992 in Reinbek) is a retired German racing driver. Career Karting Buhk began karting in 2004 and raced only in his native Germany for the majority of his career, working his way up from the junior ranks to prog ...

standing in for him in two rounds due to Formula E commitments. He was eventually forced to abandon these plans because of the COVID-19 restrictions though, and Buhk saw out the season.

Leaving DTM

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing and rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test d ...

left the series after one season. Three times DTM champion

René Rast René Rast (born 26 October 1986 in Minden) is a German professional racing driver and the 2017, 2019 and 2020 DTM champion. He previously drove for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler in Formula E from 2019 to 2021 before Audi left the sport at the end o ...

left the championship for Formula E Audi full-time entry.

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.

Igora Drive Igora Drive (russian: Игора Драйв, Igora Drayv) is a motorsport complex in the resort of Igora near Novozhilovo, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located approximately north of Saint Petersburg. On 26 June 2021, a contract was ann ...

, Monza and the

– all of which were scheduled to hold events in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, before their respective cancellations due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

– returned to the calendar, and the Red Bull Ring will hold a round for the first time since

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

. All circuits that held events in 2020 will return in 2021, with the exception of

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

;

Anderstorp Anderstorp () is a locality situated in Gislaved Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 4,965 inhabitants in 2010. Scandinavian Raceway, which hosted the Swedish Grand Prix Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is ...

and

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

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.

Results and standings

Season summary

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows: Additionally, the top three placed drivers in qualifying also received points:

Drivers' championship

Teams' championship

Manufacturers' championship

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

Notes

References

External links

* {{Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters years Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters seasons

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...