Ex-DTM team boss Peter Mücke also sees the rising costs for the teams as a major problem: How it got this far and what consequences he fears
Peter Mücke originally wanted to return to the DTM with his team in 2024 after a one-year break, but this will not happen for the time being. The team boss legend is worried about the traditional series, which will have a smaller grid than in 2023, due to rising costs. “In the long run, it’s probably fortunate that the GT Masters exists “
“Because if the DTM doesn’t get its act together somewhere, the GT Masters will end up being the main act again,” he says, alluding to the increased interest in the ADAC GT Masters, which he attributes to the high budgets in the DTM. “I don’t want to paint a bleak picture, but that’s my gut feeling about the situation in motorsport.”
While a season in the series, which is now geared towards amateurs, costs around 600,000 euros per car, DTM teams these days have to reckon with more than double that amount. And that’s with a professional driver in the cockpit, who usually doesn’t bring any money with him
“There are no sponsors to finance the DTM season “
For Mücke, the question is who will end up footing the bill. “Even the ‘normal’ teams can’t stay in the DTM because there are no longer any sponsors who spend money on a scale that you can finance a DTM season with,” warns the 77-year-old Berliner, who is known for his work with young talent with current F1 drivers such as Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez, as well as Maximilian Götz and Lucas Auer.
“If you find a sponsor who gives you 300,000 euros, then you can be satisfied. But then you need a pay driver in this day and age. “
Mücke surprised about the works’ withdrawal
Because even the support of the manufacturers is not enough these days to reach the required sum of around one and a half million euros per car. “The factories are withdrawing more and more, although I don’t understand it, because GT racing is still a profitable area for a manufacturer,” says Mücke in amazement.
“In terms of the total number of cars that are produced and supplied with spare parts, it pays off 100 percent, but they are still going into reverse gear. Perhaps the public image plays a role here – the fact that people drive with combustion engines. But today we can use a fuel where that no longer plays a role at all,” he says, alluding to synthetic fuels.
And Mücke identifies yet another problem area: Because in addition to the general rise in prices, there are teams that are investing so much money in their DTM projects that you have to keep up if you want to be in the fight for the title. In the paddock, there is talk of the top teams Manthey EMA and SSR Performance in particular.
“We now have a few teams that have the financial background to be able to do this,” says Mücke. “That means it will be even more expensive because they have all the possibilities to develop. But that’s not healthy for motorsport. “
Mücke takes up the cudgels for ADAC: “No DTM without them “
A problem that has not escaped the attention of the ADAC: the DTM operator now wants to declare war on test drives and is planning to restrict testing. “That’s not enough,” says Mücke skeptically. “If it’s possible for teams to present certain budgets, do even more development and bring in even more people, then it will be difficult. The number of people who can play a part is not high enough in the long term.”
Nevertheless, the team principal, who wants to compete with his racing team in GT4 Germany and the Prototype Cup Germany, praises Europe’s largest automobile club: “Hats off to the ADAC. They are making an effort. If we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t have a DTM anymore. You have to be realistic about that. “
