Mercedes-AMG Motorsport has once again scored important points at the traditional DTM city race at the Norisring, confirming its strong form at the halfway point of the season. With third place on Saturday for Maro Engel (GER) and three top ten finishes in a turbulent Sunday race, the performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach consolidated its lead in the drivers' and manufacturers' standings. After four race weekends, Lucas Auer (AUT) has already secured two victories and four further podium finishes. The Tyrolean driver from Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf goes into the summer break as championship leader with 109 points and a seven-point lead over the runner-up.
The Norisring is considered one of the highlights of the DTM calendar. As the only city circuit of the season, its compact track length of just 2.162 kilometres places unique demands on drivers and teams. Due to the shortness of the circuit, qualifying takes place in two groups based on the combined practice times from Friday. On Saturday, Group A went out first to set their times, followed by Group B – on Sunday, the order was reversed.
Sunday: Strong comebacks despite a turbulent start
From the Mercedes-AMG drivers' point of view, qualifying on Sunday was initially mixed. Only Maro Engel was able to secure fifth place on the grid with his strategy. The 39-year-old decided to go out right at the start of the session in order to complete more laps overall. With a time of 48.761 seconds, Engel was just under a tenth behind the pole-sitter. Jules Gounon (FRA), Lucas Auer and Tom Kalender (GER) started the race from positions 13, 14 and 18. The race was interrupted in the early stages following a collision. Jules Gounon was also involved but was able to continue after the restart. Tom Kalender, who is only 17 years old, got a taste of how unforgiving the Norisring can be in his first race there. He had worked his way to the front in the first 30 minutes thanks to an overcut. However, his race came to a premature end at half-time after a collision with another car that was not his fault. As a result, the suspension on his Mercedes-AMG GT3 broke. Maro Engel fought his way back after a difficult start in which he initially lost two positions. He crossed the finish line in fourth place. Lucas Auer once again put in a commanding performance, making up six positions to finish eighth. Gounon rounded off the result in tenth place.
Saturday: Podium finish for Maro Engel from Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing
The Mercedes-AMG drivers secured good starting positions for the race on Saturday. Maro Engel started from fifth place, Jules Gounon from seventh, Lucas Auer from tenth and Tom Kalender from 14th. All four drivers were able to make up places in the opening laps and maintain their positions until the pit stop window opened. Tom Kalender was the first AMG driver to make his mandatory pit stop. As a tyre was not removed correctly in the pit lane, he had to serve a penalty lap. On a track with low tyre wear, Gounon, Auer and Engel followed in the second half of the pit stop window. Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing had the fastest pit stop of the day. The crew completed the pit stop on the #24 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in just 5.8 seconds, moving Maro Engel up to third place. The Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf pit crew also put in a strong performance with the second-fastest pit stop in 6.1 seconds for Lucas Auer's car. The Tyrolean ultimately finished the race in sixth place, closely followed by Jules Gounon in seventh. Tom Kalender crossed the finish line in 13th place – his best result of the season so far.
>> DTM race results at the Norisring, Race 1
>> DTM race results at the Norisring, Race 2
>> Download updated Mercedes-AMG DTM Media Guide 2025
ADAC GT4 Germany
The SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Customer Racing Team celebrated victories in both Saturday and Sunday's ADAC GT4 Germany races. Enrico Förderer and Jay Mo Härtling (both GER) achieved a start-to-finish victory in both races with the Mercedes-AMG GT4 #11. The duo has won every race so far this season.
Facts and figures
Track length: 2.162 kilometres
Opened: 1947
DTM debut: 1984
DTM races at the Norisring: 56
Mercedes-AMG entries in DTM races at the Norisring: 53
Placings and points in the various classifications:
Driver classification: 1st Lucas Auer (109 points), 5th Maro Engel (101 points, tied with fourth place), 7th Jules Gounon (88 points), 21st Tom Kalender (5 points
Team classification: 2nd Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing (184 points), 6th Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf (111 points)
Manufacturers' classification: 1st Mercedes-AMG (130 points)
Qualifying groups:
Group A: Maro Engel and Jules Gounon
Group B: Lucas Auer and Tom Kalender
Jules Gounon and Tom Kalender were competing at the Norisring for the first time
Conditions:
Race 1: Summer temperatures above 30 degrees, track temperature 36 degrees at the start of the race
Race 2: Dry and partly cloudy at around 27 degrees, track temperature 33 degrees at the start of the race
Spectator numbers over the race weekend: 112.000
For the DTM drivers, the weekend began on Thursday morning with a visit to adidas in Herzogenaurach – the official partner of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport. Lucas Auer, Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Tom Kalender gained exciting insights into the company and were able to kit themselves out in the campus shop.
The fifth round of the DTM will take place at the Nürburgring from 8 to 10 August
"It was a challenging weekend with the expected high level of performance at the Norisring. We got the best out of the conditions and scored important points for the championship. Lucas goes into the summer break as the leader, and Maro and Jules also remain within striking distance of the title. Even Tom was able to score points for the manufacturers' championship in his first appearance at the Norisring – that's remarkable. Overall, it was a very strong first half of the season, and we want to continue this consistency in the second half.”
Thomas Jäger, DTM Sporting Director
“Today's race was great because we were able to put a lot of pressure on the front runners. Moving up from 15th to 8th place is a strong result. Yesterday also went well. A big thank you to the entire Landgraf Motorsport team and to Mercedes-AMG for the season so far. I'm currently the one being chased in the field, but it doesn't matter whether you're the hunter or the hunted – a lot can still happen in the second half of the season. Of course, I prefer to be at the front, which is why I'm enjoying the current championship standings."
Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf #22
"That was hard work today. Unfortunately, I didn't get off to the start I'd hoped for and lost two places. But we had a great strategy with two early pit stops and the crew did an absolutely outstanding job. I literally bit into the steering wheel to fight for every position, and in the end we were able to regain the places. In the championship, positions two to five are currently only two points apart. It's extremely close and hard-fought – but that was to be expected."
Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing #24
"The situation in the early stages today was obviously not ideal. I gave it my all, was sandwiched in between and drove my line – from my perspective, there was nothing else I could do. Overall, I felt very comfortable at the Norisring, even though I touched the wall a few times in the first sessions. I pushed to the absolute limit throughout the weekend, even though I struggled a bit with grip. Fortunately, we now have a bit of time to analyse everything and focus. Ultimately, I also scored important points here."
Jules Gounon, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER #48
"The Norisring is definitely a very cool track. It was my first time here, but I was able to keep up with the pace right away. Of course, it was a shame to retire today. I braked during a full course yellow in the countdown and then just felt the impact. After that, I unfortunately had to return to the pits. Overall, I'm satisfied with my season so far. Compared to the other Mercedes-AMG drivers, I'm doing well and I'm not the slowest in the field either. I've made clear progress and am looking forward to the second half of the season."
Tom Kalender, Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf #84
