“Timo, push him out!” – These four words are probably the most controversial in the 40-year history of the DTM – an overview of the biggest DTM scandals
; It was August 2, 2015, when the DTM experienced the biggest scandal in its history: During the race at the Red Bull Ring, Timo Scheider of Audi head of motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich, via radio, to “push” the Mercedes drivers in front of him off the track – and the two-time DTM champion did just that!
The result: disqualification and a race ban for Scheider at the next race in Moscow, Ullrich was banned from entering the pit lane and actively accessing the team radio until the end of the season. In addition, Audi had to pay a record fine of 200,000 euros.
The size of the fine alone shows that the ‘push him out’ affair was probably the biggest scandal in the over 40-year history of the DTM – but it is far from being the only one! The rivalry between Audi and Mercedes-Benz was repeatedly in the spotlight.
For example, at the 2007 DTM race in Barcelona, when the Ingolstadt-based team took all its cars out of the race early after several Audi drivers had been knocked out by the Mercedes competition – including title favorites Mattias Ekström and Martin Tomczyk.
Michael Schumacher also involved in DTM scandal
Audi was involved in the biggest DTM scandals several times, for example in the “Watergate” controversy at the Norisring in 2013, when race winner Mattias Ekström had two bottles of mineral water poured into the pockets of his racing suit by his father and a supervisor. Disqualification!
In the 1991 DTM season, Audi driver Hubert Haupt made a nasty foul when he pushed Mercedes title favorite Kurt Thiim off the track – also on the instructions of the then Audi boss. Just one year later, the Ingolstadt-based company caused a stir with its controversial crankshaft.
Why Formula One record world champion Michael Schumacher was also involved in one of the biggest DTM scandals and what role Opel and BMW played in the most heated controversies in DTM history,
