2021 Spielberg Race 1

2021 Spielberg Race 1
The Red Bull Ring returned in 2021
Race Information
Date	4 September 2021
No.	278 (9 of 2021)
Event	DTM Spielberg 2021
Location	Red Bull Ring Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Format	55 min + 1 Lap
Lap length	4.326 km (2.688 mi)
Distance	38 laps / 164.388 km (102.146 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Liam Lawson
Team	Red Bull AF Corse
Time	1:27.851
Fastest Lap
Driver	Esteban Muth
Team	T3 Motorsport
Time	1:29.691 on lap 36
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Liam Lawson	Maximilian Götz	Philip Ellis
Winner Team	Red Bull AF Corse
Time	57:48.232
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2021 Nürburgring Race 2		2021 Spielberg Race 2

The 2021 Spielberg Race 1, otherwise known as the DTM Spielberg 2021 Race 1, was the ninth race of the 2021 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria on 4 September 2021. The race would see Liam Lawson secure his second victory of the season, after resisting mid-to-late race pressure from Maximilian Götz.

Lawson had been the man to beat in qualifying, the New Zealander having claimed his maiden pole position by 0.271s from Götz. Arjun Maini was best of the rest in third ahead of Sheldon van der Linde, while Championship leader Kelvin van der Linde only claimed eighth.

Lawson would duly convert his maiden pole into an early lead, darting off the grid cleanly deny Götz the chance to challenge into the first corner. Götz himself would secure second without issue from Maini, with the Indian youth instead finding himself under attack from Sheldon van der Linde.

The early stages saw Lawson enhance his lead to almost two and a half seconds, prompting Götz to make his stop as soon as the pits opened in a bid to jump the #30 Ferrari. However, when Lawson stopped a lap later Götz had been unable to overcome the 2.5 second advantage the Ferrari held, meaning the New Zealander would emerge still with the net race lead.

Elsewhere, the sister Ferrari of Alexander Albon was the man to watch, with the Thai racer getting involved in two scraps, first with Maini and then with Kelvin van der Linde. After that Albon set about hunting down Philip Ellis who ran in a net third place, with the leading group beginning to catch the drivers who were running on the opposite long-short strategy.

Lawson and Götz were the first to catch the slower traffic, resulting in Lawson's lead all but disappearing as he scrambled ahead of Nico Müller and Mike Rockenfeller. Götz was hence left right on the #23 Ferrari's tail as the race entered its final throes, as behind Albon tried a lunge around the outside of Ellis for third, but instead picked up some minor damage from van der Linde as the South African racer tried to sneak through on the inside of turn six.

Ultimately a true battle for the lead would also fail to materialise, with Lawson able to keep Götz at arm's length to secure his second victory of the campaign. Ellis was next up ahead of Albon and van der Linde, while Maini and Marco Wittmann caught them just as the race came to a conclusion. Lucas Auer was next up ahead of Vincent Abril, while the final point went to Timo Glock.

Background

After a two week break the 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters field reassembled for its fifth round of the campaign, returning to a venue that had not hosted the Series for three years. Indeed, the ever popular Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, would make return to the DTM fold for the first time since 2018, and was unmodified since the Series' previous appearance. In contrast there would be changes to the entry list for the trip to Austria, with a major shuffle among the Guest drivers attending the weekend.

Paul In, Six Out

The entry list for the Spielberg round would be reduced to 20 drivers, as the guest entries of Hubert Haupt, Luca Stolz, the lone McLaren of Christian Klien and the sole Porsche for Michael Ammermüller all opted against traveling across the German-Austrian border. There would, however, be one guest entry for the trip to Spielberg, with T3 Motorsport expanding to field a third Lamborghini for Maximilian Paul. The German youth was well known within the T3 Motorsport stable having raced for them in the ADAC GT Masters since 2019, and would make his DTM debut using #71 as his race number.

Regulars Galore

There was a late change to the entry list after confirmation of Paul's participation, as Alexander Albon was released by Red Bull to compete at the Red Bull Ring, instead as serve as their reserve at the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix. That decision meant that Nick Cassidy would not make his full DTM debut in Spielberg, which had been agreed before the start of the season due to the DTM's clashes with F1. Furthermore, AF Corse were reluctant to confirm whether Cassidy would race at all in 2021, with two of the remaining rounds on free weekends for the Thai driver, while his potential title challenge meant he would be unlikely to skip the finale at the Norisring.

Elsewhere, Sophia Flörsch returned to take over the #99 Team ABT Audi from Markus Winkelhock, having skipped the trip to the Nürburgring to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Dev Gore, meanwhile, returned to the #12 Team Rosberg Audi after travel restrictions prevented him from racing in the Eifel Mountains.

Nürburg Normality

There were no changes made to the Balance of Performance calculations ahead of the trip to Spielberg, with ballast and restrictors/boost left at the levels set ahead of the 2021 Nürburgring Race 2.

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

2021 Spielberg Race 1 BoP
Manufacturer	Weight	Boost/Restrictor
Audi	1,340 kg (—)	2 x 43 mm (—)
BMW	1,335 kg (—)	2.135 bar (—)
Ferrari	1,315 kg (—)	1.662 bar (—)
Lamborghini	1,305 kg (—)	2 x 42.5 mm (—)
Mercedes-AMG	1,345 kg (—)	2 x 37.5 mm (—)
2021 Spielberg Race 1 Ballast Allocation
Alexander Albon	Daniel Juncadella	Marco Wittmann
25 kg	18 kg	15 kg

Albon's Ace

Kelvin van der Linde led the charge at the halfway point in the second, the South African racer having claimed 129 points in the opening eight races. That left him 33 points clear of Maximilian Götz in second, with Marco Wittmann two behind in third. In the Junior Championship Liam Lawson headed the charge at halftime with 80 points, with Sheldon van der Linde 38 behind in second.

Team ABT Sportsline would lead the Teams' Championship after eight rounds, the German squad with 190 points to their credit. AF Corse occupied second on 162, while Mercedes Team Winward were sat in third on 122 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship Mercedes-AMG continued to head the charge, 40 clear of Audi, while AF Corse rounded out the top three with 162 points.

Entry List

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

2021 Spielberg 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
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	Maximilian Buhk	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
51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
71	Maximilian Paul	T3 Motorsport	Lamborghini	Huracán GT3 Evo
99	Sophia Flörsch	Team ABT	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
Source:

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

Qualifying

Results

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

2021 Spielberg Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	1:27.851	—	176.945 km/h	1
2nd	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HRT	1:28.122	+0.271s	176.400 km/h	2
3rd	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes Team GetSpeed	1:28.240	+0.389s	176.165 km/h	3
4th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	1:28.241	+0.390s	176.163 km/h	4
5th	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes Team Winward	1:28.251	+0.400s	176.143 km/h	5
6th	23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	1:28.286	+0.435s	176.073 km/h	6
7th	11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	1:28.311	+0.460s	176.023 km/h	7
8th	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	1:28.337	+0.486s	175.971 km/h	8
9th	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes Team HRT	1:28.408	+0.557s	175.830 km/h	9
10th	18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes Team Mücke	1:28.411	+0.560s	175.824 km/h	10
11th	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team GruppeM	1:28.425	+0.574s	175.796 km/h	11
12th	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes Team Winward	1:28.506	+0.655s	175.635 km/h	12
13th	16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	1:28.540	+0.689s	175.568 km/h	13
14th	51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	1:28.577	+0.726s	175.494 km/h	14
15th	10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	1:28.665	+0.814s	175.320 km/h	15
16th	71	Maximilian Paul	T3 Motorsport	1:28.737	+0.886s	175.178 km/h	16
17th	26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	1:28.977	+1.126s	174.705 km/h	17
18th	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	1:28.984	+1.133s	174.692 km/h	18
19th	12	Dev Gore	Team Rosberg	1:29.367	+1.516s	173.943 km/h	19
20th	99	Sophia Flörsch	Team ABT	1:29.371	+1.520s	173.935 km/h	20
Source:

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

Grid

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

		12	Dev Gore	1:29.367			26	Esmee Hawkey	1:28.977			10	Esteban Muth	1:28.665			16	Timo Glock	1:28.540			8	Daniel Juncadella	1:28.425			5	Vincent Abril	1:28.408			11	Marco Wittmann	1:28.311			57	Philip Ellis	1:28.251			36	Arjun Maini	1:28.240			30	Liam Lawson	1:27.851
	99	Sophia Flörsch		1:29.371		9	Mike Rockenfeller		1:28.984		71	Maximilian Paul		1:28.737		51	Nico Müller		1:28.577		22	Lucas Auer		1:28.506		18	Maximilian Buhk		1:28.411		3	Kelvin van der Linde		1:28.337		23	Alexander Albon		1:28.286		31	Sheldon van der Linde		1:28.241		4	Maximilian Götz		1:28.122
																									File:BUH 21 Livery.png

Race

Results

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

2021 Spielberg Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	38	57:48.232	1:29.700	253
2nd	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HRT	38	+1.007s	1:29.948	182
3rd	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes Team Winward	38	+12.939s	1:29.962	15
4th	23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	38	+14.282s	1:29.957	12
5th	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	38	+14.829s	1:29.720	10
6th	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes Team GetSpeed	38	+15.196s	1:30.020	81
7th	11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	38	+15.543s	1:29.845	6
8th	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes Team Winward	38	+17.007s	1:30.146	4
9th	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes Team HRT	38	+19.744s	1:30.286	2
10th	16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	38	+22.160s	1:30.176	1
11th	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team GruppeM	38	+23.204s	1:30.256
12th	18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes Team Mücke	38	+25.600s	1:30.352
13th	71	Maximilian Paul	T3 Motorsport	38	+29.458s	1:30.283
14th	10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	38	+29.985s	1:29.691
15th	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	38	+38.175s	1:30.720
16th	26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	38	+39.412s	1:30.495
17th	99	Sophia Flörsch	Team ABT Sportsline	38	+1:07.168	1:31.127
18th	51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	31	+7 Laps	1:30.499
Ret	12	Dev Gore	Team Rosberg	15	Retired	1:31.424
Ret	31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	9	Brakes	1:30.437
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

• Liam Lawson claimed his first pole position.
• Second career victory for Lawson.
  • Also Lawson's fifth podium finish.
• AF Corse claimed their third win as an entrant.
  • Ferrari secured their third win as a manufacturer.

Standings

Kelvin van der Linde continued to lead the Championship charge as the season entered its second half, although the South African racers lead had been reduced to 23 points. Maximilian Götz had done most of the damage as he closed up to the lead in second, while Liam Lawson had shot back into third after his second win. Lawson also continued to lead the Junior Championship with nine races completed, 66 points clear of Sheldon van der Linde in second.

In the Teams' Championship a fourth win for AF Corse had lifted the Italian squad into the lead of the title hunt, having smashed through the 200 point barrier. They had, however, only managed to open out a two point lead over former leaders Team ABT Sportsline, while Mercedes Team Winward remained in third, 61 off the lead. In the Manufacturers' Championship Mercedes-AMG continued to head the charge on 321 points, while Audi and Ferrari had held station in second and third.

2021 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Kelvin van der Linde 139 ◄0 2nd Maximilian Götz 116 ◄0 3rd Liam Lawson 108 ▲2 4th Marco Wittmann 100 ▼1 5th Alexander Albon 94 ▼1 6th Philip Ellis 87 ◄0 7th Mike Rockenfeller 61 ◄0 8th Lucas Auer 54 ◄0 9th Nico Müller 46 ◄0 10th Daniel Juncadella 43 ◄0 11th Sheldon van der Linde 42 ◄0 12th Esteban Muth 27 ◄0 13th Vincent Abril 18 ◄0 14th Arjun Maini 11 ▲2 15th Maximilian Buhk 9 ▼1 16th Timo Glock 7 ▼1 17th Christopher Haase 1 ◄0 2021 Junior Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Liam Lawson 108 ◄0 2nd Sheldon van der Linde 42 ◄0 3rd Esteban Muth 27 ◄0 4th Sophia Flörsch 0 ◄0

2021 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st AF Corse 202 ▲1 2nd Team ABT Sportsline 200 ▼1 3rd Mercedes Team Winward 141 ◄0 4th Mercedes Team HRT 134 ◄0 5th Walkenhorst Motorsport 100 ◄0 6th ROWE Racing 49 ◄0 7th Team Rosberg 47 ◄0 8th Mercedes Team GruppeM 43 ◄0 9th T3 Motorsport 27 ◄0 10th Mercedes Team GetSpeed 11 ▲1 11th Mercedes Team Mücke 9 ▼1 12th Team ABT 0 ◄0 2021 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mercedes-AMG 321 ◄0 2nd Audi 247 ◄0 3rd Ferrari 202 ◄0 4th BMW 149 ◄0 5th Lamborghini 27 ◄0 6th McLaren 0 ◄0 7th Porsche 0 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

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: