2021 Hockenheim Race 1

2021 Hockenheim Race 1
The Hockenheimring was unchanged in 2021.
Race Information
Date	2 October 2021
No.	282 (13 of 2021)
Event	DTM Hockenheim 2021
Location	Hockenheimring Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Format	55 min + 1 Lap
Lap length	4.574 km (2.842 mi)
Distance	35 laps / 160.090 km (99.475 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Kelvin van der Linde
Team	Team ABT Sportsline
Time	1:36.649
Fastest Lap
Driver	Alexander Albon
Team	AlphaTauri AF Corse
Time	1:39.082 on lap 14
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Kelvin van der Linde	Alexander Albon	Mike Rockenfeller
Winner Team	Team ABT Sportsline
Time	1:01:14.359
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2021 Assen Race 2		2021 Hockenheim Race 2

The 2021 Hockenheim Race 1, formally known as the DTM Hockenheim 2021 Race 1, was the thirteenth race of the 2021 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on 2 October 2021. The race would see long-term factory Audi and ABT Sportsline driver Lucas di Grassi make his DTM debut, partnering Sophia Flörsch, as a gesture from the German marque for heading their FIA Formula E Championship programme since 2014.

di Grassi would out-pace his teammate in qualifying, although the Brazilian ace would only line-up in eighteenth on the grid for his DTM debut. Pole position, meanwhile, would go to title pretender, and fellow Audi pilot, Kelvin van der Linde, with Lucas Auer splitting the South African racer from Championship leader Liam Lawson.

The start of the race saw Auer throw everything he had at van der Linde off the grid, although the #3 Audi pilot was able to resist into turn one, and again through turn two. Behind, title rival Lawson would endure a similar battle with Maximilian Götz, with the #4 Mercedes-AMG even barging into the side of the #30 Ferrari through turns two and three.

That touch would compromise both drivers allowing Arjun Maini, who had already vaulted past Daniel Juncadella off the grid, to dart past the pair of them entering the Parabolika. That left the Indian racer with a run on Auer on the run to the hairpin, although a misjudged lunge on the brakes saw the #36 Mercedes-AMG slam into the side of Auer and wreck both cars.

The Safety Car was scrambled to clear the two wrecked Mercedes, with Götz having emerged in second ahead of Lawson after the New Zealander had to take a longer route past the unfolding accident. At the restart both would, however, be unable to challenge van der Linde on the run to the first corner, with the #3 Audi quickly establishing a small lead.

As a result both Götz and Lawson would stop as soon as the pits opened on lap five in a bid to undercut the South African pilot, although the ploy would not work. Indeed, van der Linde would stop and rejoin still with a comfortable margin over his two chasers two laps later, as Alexander Albon assumed the race lead.

Albon went on in the lead until lap twelve, rejoining down in the midfield, while Mike Rockenfeller was the last stopper on lap 23. Those two would subsequently storm up the field in the closing stages, with Albon elbowing his way into second, while Rockenfeller started the final tour right on Lawson's tail after both elbowed past Götz.

The fight for the final podium spot would be settled two thirds around the final tour, with Rockenfeller and Lawson running side-by-side throughout the second sector before the #9 Audi forced its way ahead. Out front, meanwhile, van der Linde swept across the line for his fourth win of the campaign ahead of Albon, while Lawson's late demotion to fourth meant that the South African ace went level with the New Zealander atop the Championship.

Background

For the first time ever since the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters had been revived in 2000, the Series' annual trip to the Hockenheimring in the autumn would not serve as the season finale in 2021. Having originally been scheduled to host the final pair of races on 2 - 3 October on the original 2021 calendar, the mid-season decision to hold the DTM Nuremberg Speedweekend 2021 on 9 - 10 October meant that the DTM broke with the tradition of Hockenheim hosting the season finale. Regardless, the Hockenheimring Grand Prix circuit would be unchanged from the DTM's previous visit in Hockenheim, although there were changes to the field since the previous round at Assen.

The Veteran Virgin

Ahead of the trip to Hockenheim Audi and long-term factory squad ABT Sportsline announced that factory Audi pilot and 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship Champion Lucas di Grassi would join their squad, partnering Sophia Flörsch. The Brazilian was being rewarded for his time with the Ingolstadt manufacturer, who had withdrawn from Formula E at the end of the 2020/21 season after competing in the first seven seasons with ABT Sportsline. As a result, di Grassi would make his DTM debut using a livery based on the one that he had used in FE to win the 2016/17 Championship, although he would not use his FE race number, instead using #37 for his four race cameo.

Dienst Debut

Elsewhere, Maximilian Buhk was unable to attend the race in Hockenheim due to a clash with his programme, leaving Mücke Motorsport with the need to find a replacement. However, while the team had originally planned to field Gary Paffett in 2021, before switching to Buhk full time due to Paffett's troubles with travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Berlin based squad would not approach the Brit to replace his replacement. Instead, Mücke would sign up DTM rookie Marvin Dienst to take over their #18 Mercedes-AMG entry in Hockenheim, with the 24 year old having previously raced for the Bavarian squad in ADAC Formel Masters back in 2014.

Hockenheim Hopes

The official Balance of Performance calculations for the trip to Hockenheim were announced on the eve of the weekend, alongside the planned BoP for the finale at the Norisring. The main change from the trip to Assen would be a reduction in boost pressure for both BMW and Ferrari, with BMW losing 0.020 bar, while Ferrari lost 0.022 bar. The changes were made to counter the fact that both manufacturers' cars had seemingly had no impact from carrying success ballast, although BMW were concerned that they would suffer a severe disadvantage on the straights at Hockenheim.

Outlined below are the BoP calculations and success ballast allocations for the 2021 Hockenheim Race 1:

2021 Hockenheim Race 1 BoP
Manufacturer	Weight	Boost/Restrictor
Audi	1,335 kg (—)	2 x 43 mm (—)
BMW	1,335 kg (—)	2.069 bar (▼ 0.020 bar)
Ferrari	1,335 kg (—)	1.631 bar (▼ 0.022 bar)
Lamborghini	1,305 kg (—)	2 x 42.5 mm (—)
Mercedes-AMG	1,335 kg (—)	2 x 37.5 mm (—)
2021 Hockenheim Race 1 Ballast Allocation
Lucas Auer	Liam Lawson	Marco Wittmann
25 kg	18 kg	15 kg

The Assen Ascension

After two straight second places in Assen Liam Lawson had ended the weekend in the Netherlands with a ten point lead in the Championship, as a new man emerged in second. Indeed, Marco Wittmann's strongest weekend of the season had seen the German racer move five ahead of former leader Kelvin van der Linde, while Maximilian Götz was twenty off the lead in fourth. In the Junior Championship, meanwhile, Lawson had already sealed the title ahead of the trip to Hockenheim, having moved 120 points clear of Sheldon van der Linde with 112 left to fight for.

In the Teams' Championship AF Corse had retained their command of the title hunt with two rounds to go, the Italian squad having moved onto 279 points for the campaign. That left them 58 ahead of Team ABT Sportsline in second, while Mercedes Team Winward were 74 off the lead in third. Mercedes-AMG, meanwhile, were in control of the Manufacturers' Championship on 426 points, 147 clear of Ferrari in second.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2021 Hockenheim Race 1 is displayed below:

2021 Hockenheim Race 1 Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Livery
3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
6	Hubert Haupt	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	Lamborghini	Huracán GT3 Evo
11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	BMW	M6 GT3
12	Dev Gore	Team Rosberg	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	BMW	M6 GT3
18	Marvin Dienst	Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	Ferrari	488 GT3 Evo 2020
26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	Lamborghini	Huracán GT3 Evo
30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	Ferrari	488 GT3 Evo 2020
31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	BMW	M6 GT3
36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
37	Lucas di Grassi	Team ABT	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
99	Sophia Flörsch	Team ABT	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
Source:

• Numbers with a green background indicate an entrant in the Junior Championship.
• Numbers with a black background indicate a guest entrant.

Qualifying

Results

The final qualifying result for the 2021 Hockenheim Race 1 are outlined below:

2021 Hockenheim Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	1:36.649	—	170.373 km/h	1
2nd	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes Team Winward	1:37.132	+0.483s	169.526 km/h	2
3rd	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	1:37.261	+0.612s	169.301 km/h	3
4th	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team GruppeM	1:37.288	+0.639s	169.254 km/h	4
5th	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes Team GetSpeed	1:37.330	+0.681s	169.181 km/h	5
6th	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HRT	1:37.361	+0.712s	169.127 km/h	6
7th	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes Team HRT	1:37.424	+0.775s	169.017 km/h	7
8th	51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	1:37.456	+0.807s	168.962 km/h	8
9th	23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	1:37.484	+0.835s	168.913 km/h	9
10th	18	Marvin Dienst	Mercedes Team Mücke	1:37.521	+0.872s	168.849 km/h	10
11th	10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	1:37.569	+0.920s	168.766 km/h	11
12th	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes Team Winward	1:37.786	+1.137s	168.392 km/h	12
13th	11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	1:37.874	+1.225s	168.240 km/h	13
14th	26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	1:38.010	+1.361s	168.007 km/h	14
15th	16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	1:38.067	+1.418s	167.909 km/h	15
16th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	1:38.078	+1.429s	167.890 km/h	16
17th	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	1:38.213	+1.564s	167.660 km/h	17
18th	37	Lucas Auer	Team ABT	1:38.355	+1.706s	167.418 km/h	18
19th	99	Sophia Flörsch	Team ABT	1:38.438	+1.789s	167.276 km/h	19
20th	6	Hubert Haupt	Mercedes Team HRT	1:38.520	+1.871s	167.137 km/h	20
21st	12	Dev Gore	Team Rosberg	1:38.628	+1.979s	166.954 km/h	21
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.

Grid

The starting grid for the 2021 Hockenheim Race 1 in shown below:

		12	Dev Gore	1:38.628			99	Sophia Flörsch	1:38.438			9	Mike Rockenfeller	1:38.213			16	Timo Glock	1:38.067			11	Marco Wittmann	1:37.874			10	Esteban Muth	1:37.569			23	Alexander Albon	1:37.484			5	Vincent Abril	1:37.424			36	Arjun Maini	1:37.330			30	Liam Lawson	1:37.261			3	Kelvin van der Linde	1:36.649
						6	Hubert Haupt		1:38.520		37	Lucas di Grassi		1:38.355		31	Sheldon van der Linde		1:38.078		26	Esmee Hawkey		1:38.010		57	Philip Ellis		1:37.786		18	Marvin Dienst		1:37.521		51	Nico Müller		1:37.456		4	Maximilian Götz		1:37.361		8	Daniel Juncadella		1:37.288		22	Lucas Auer		1:37.132

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2021 Hockenheim Race 1 is displayed below:

2021 Hockenheim Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	35	1:01:14.359	1:39.300	253
2nd	23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	35	+5.886s	1:39.082	18
3rd	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	35	+15.601s	1:39.266	15
4th	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	35	+17.233s	1:39.458	121
5th	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HRT	35	+17.940s	1:39.560	10
6th	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team GruppeM	35	+19.966s	1:39.417	8
7th	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes Team Winward	35	+21.119s	1:39.579	6
8th	10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	35	+23.779s	1:39.746	4
9th	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes Team HRT	35	+28.817s	1:39.529	2
10th	16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	35	+36.432s	1:40.050	1
11th	18	Marvin Dienst	Mercedes Team Mücke	35	+39.674s	1:40.119
12th	99	Sophia Flörsch	Team ABT	35	+40.662s	1:40.004
13th	6	Hubert Haupt	Mercedes Team HRT	35	+46.641s	1:40.205
14th	26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	35	+49.633s	1:40.394
15th	37	Lucas di Grassi	Team ABT	35	+1:02.029	1:40.731
16th	12	Dev Gore	Team Rosberg	35	+1:03.246	1:30.952
17th	51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	26	+9 Laps	1:40.310
Ret	31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	25	Retired	1:40.932
Ret	11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	23	Damage	1:41.117
Ret	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes Team Winward	0	Collision	—	1
Ret	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes Team GetSpeed	0	Collision	—
Source:

• ³ Indicates a driver was awarded points for qualifying in the top three.
• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

• Lucas di Grassi made his DTM debut.
• Fourth career victory for Kelvin van der Linde.

Standings

The last lap shenanigans combined with Kelvin van der Linde's fourth win of the campaign would be enough for the South African ace to return to the head of the table, although van der Linde had no margin over his main challenger. Indeed, former leader Liam Lawson had ended the day level on 188 points with van der Linde, but had lost the lead by having one fewer race victory. Yet, the young New Zealander had enhanced his huge margin in the Junior Championship, with second placed Sheldon van der Linde instead fighting Esteban Muth for second.

The Teams' Championship had seen AF Corse retain their lead, with the Italian squad having moved onto 310 points for the campaign. Behind, Team ABT Sportsline had inched closer to the leaders, but were still some 46 points off the lead, while Mercedes Team Winward had slipped 97 points behind in third. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, Mercedes-AMG were on the verge of the title, having moved 131 points clear of Audi in second.

2021 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Kelvin van der Linde 188 ▲2 2nd Liam Lawson 188 ▼1 3rd Marco Wittmann 165 ▼1 4th Maximilian Götz 165 ◄0 5th Alexander Albon 122 ▲1 6th Philip Ellis 115 ▼1 7th Lucas Auer 97 ◄0 8th Mike Rockenfeller 77 ◄0 9th Sheldon van der Linde 55 ◄0 10th Nico Müller 52 ◄0 11th Daniel Juncadella 51 ◄0 12th Esteban Muth 41 ◄0 13th Vincent Abril 28 ◄0 14th Arjun Maini 17 ◄0 15th Maximilian Buhk 11 ◄0 16th Timo Glock 9 ◄0 17th Sophia Flörsch 6 ◄0 18th Esmee Hawkey 2 ◄0 19th Christopher Haase 1 ◄0 20th Dev Gore 0 ◄0 21st Markus Winkelhock 0 ◄0 2021 Junior Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Liam Lawson 188 ◄0 2nd Sheldon van der Linde 55 ◄0 3rd Esteban Muth 41 ◄0 4th Sophia Flörsch 6 ◄0

2021 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st AF Corse 310 ◄0 2nd Team ABT Sportsline 264 ◄0 3rd Mercedes Team Winward 213 ◄0 4th Mercedes Team HRT 191 ◄0 5th Walkenhorst Motorsport 165 ◄0 6th ROWE Racing 64 ◄0 7th Team Rosberg 51 ◄0 8th Mercedes Team GruppeM 51 ▲1 9th T3 Motorsport 48 ▼1 10th Mercedes Team GetSpeed 17 ◄0 11th Mercedes Team Mücke 11 ◄0 12th Team ABT 6 ◄0 2021 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mercedes-AMG 452 ◄0 2nd Audi 321 ▲1 3rd Ferrari 310 ▼1 4th BMW 229 ◄0 5th Lamborghini 48 ◄0

References

Images and Videos:

• Liveries: byggxx, 'Rennwagen (2021)', dtm.fandom.com/de, (DTM Wiki/de, 2021), https://dtm.fandom.com/de/wiki/Kategorie:Rennwagen_(2021), (Accessed 29/05/2020)

References: