- Lucas Auer with pole position, fastest race lap and victory in the first race
- Maro Engel completes the double podium with third place
- Lucas Auer: “It feels good to be back and to start the season with a win.”
Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing showed strong performance in the opening race of the DTM 2025 at Oschersleben on Saturday. Lucas Auer (AUT) initially put his #22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in second place on the grid in the morning qualifying session, which started five minutes late at 9:25 am because the track still had to be cleaned. Due to the subsequent disqualification of the fastest qualifying driver, Auer moved up to pole position shortly before the start of the race. After 57:03:179 minutes, the Austrian secured his first victory of the 2025 DTM season on the 3.667-kilometre circuit at Oschersleben.
Lucas Auer from Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf managed to open up a lead of three seconds in the first 15 minutes. He initially controlled the race from the lead until the pit stop window opened. The team completed the pit stop in 6.3 seconds – the fastest stop in the field of 24 drivers. It was Auer’s tenth victory in his 156th DTM race. The 30-year-old had to wait 931 days for this latest success.
Maro Engel from Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing was impeded on his fastest lap in the third sector in qualifying and qualified fifth with a time of 1:22.321 minutes. In the race, Engel managed to fight his way onto the podium – not least thanks to the strategy of a late pit stop; he finished the race in third place.
Jules Gounon from Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER started the race from fourth position. The Frenchman, who has an Andorran driver’s license, was able to make up a position right at the start and was the first AMG driver to make the mandatory pit stop in third place. However, the planned undercut attempt failed. After changing tires, Gounon returned to the track directly behind his direct competitor. All attempts to overtake failed and he finished the race in fifth place.
Rookie Tom Kalender unfortunately got caught up in traffic on his fastest lap in qualifying shortly before the end. As a result, the 17-year-old started his first DTM race from 17th on the grid. The reigning ADAC GT Masters champion successfully defended this position over the race distance of 55 minutes plus one lap.
Figures, Data, Facts
| Conditions – Qualifying and race: Dry – Track temperature qualifying: 13 degrees – Track temperature race: 26 degrees |
| Lucas Auer set a lap time of 1:21.004 minutes in qualifying to start the race from pole position |
| Lucas Auer also set the fastest race lap with 1:23.011 minutes |
| Tom Kalender goes down as the youngest driver in DTM history: He was 17 years and 30 days old for his first DTM race on Saturday |
| Second victory for Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf in the DTM (first victory at Zandvoort 2023 with Maro Engel) |
| Lucas Auer also set the fastest race lap with 1:23.011 minutes |
“That was a perfect start to the season for Mercedes-AMG. Both our teams scored important points in all classifications. Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf now leads the drivers’ standings with Lucas Auer and Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing the team standings. I am very proud of that. Tom Kalender, who was the youngest driver in DTM history, also put in a good performance. This result underlines the performance of our Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the strength of our drivers and teams.”
Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing
“The fact that the Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf was able to win directly with its return to the DTM and in the constellation with Lucas Auer is an outstanding achievement. In qualifying, we got the tires into an optimal window despite the low temperatures and thus laid the foundation for a good race result. However, the second race of the season is coming up tomorrow and we obviously hope that we will have the opportunity to deliver our full performance again.”
Thomas Jäger, Sporting Director DTM
“It feels very good to be back and to start the DTM season with a win. It was relatively tough to defend the lead. I had good pace but then caught up with lapped cars and came out closer than I actually wanted to at the pit stop. My team did a great job today.”
Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Motorsport, Lucas Auer #22
“That was definitely not an easy race today. The pace was good, but I still struggled a bit to get the car into the right balance. Nevertheless, it was a very good start to the season and I’m very happy with the podium – it’s a great result and an important basis for the season.”
Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing, Maro Engel #24
