Why Albon has his work cut out in the new-look DTM

For many years, the Red Bull-backed Audi of Mattias Ekstrom was easily one of the most recognisable cars in the DTM, with the energy drinks giant becoming synonymous with the success of the two-time champion during their 16 years together in the series. So, when Ekstrom announced his exit from the DTM at the end of the 2017 season, it perhaps came as little surprise that Red Bull followed suit a few months later, pulling out as a sponsor of both the ex-Ekstrom Audi slot and Marco Wittmann’s BMW.

But Red Bull’s absence from the DTM has turned out to be short-lived, and it’s back in the revamped GT3-based series this year with a team of its own. One of the operation’s two AF Corse-run Ferraris will carry the famous red-and-blue colour scheme of the Red Bull brand, while the other 488 GT3 will sport the fan-favourite AlphaTauri livery also seen in Formula 1.

But Red Bull’s return amounts to more than bringing some popular liveries to the DTM grid. The long-running German championship desperately needed a boost over the winter following the demise of the Class 1 era, as it could no longer rely on manufacturers for driver talent. This is where series boss Gerhard Berger’s decades-long association with Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko came into play.

Berger, who oversaw former Red Bull golden boy Sebastian Vettel’s first F1 victory in 2008 while a co-owner of Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri), successfully convinced his fellow Austrian to deploy a fully fledged team in the series in no time.

The deal made sense for Red Bull, too. While a lack of manufacturer funding enjoyed in previous years will certainly hurt, the DTM still offers immense marketing benefits to its participants in Europe, particularly the German-speaking markets, where the energy drinks maker has a strong presence.

Alex Albon, AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Red Bull also needed a new championship in which to field its young drivers, with its previously favoured Japanese route cut off by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, Red Bull planned to run Estonian Formula 3 graduate Juri Vips in Super Formula, hoping he’d follow in the footsteps of Pierre Gasly and step up to F1. But Japan’s strict travel restrictions meant that Vips wasn’t able to contest even a single SF race last season, with a handful of appearances in Formula 2 not enough to make up for lost mileage.

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To avoid a repeat of the situation, Red Bull has not placed any of its junior drivers in Super Formula this year, despite continuing to sponsor the Honda-powered Mugen team. Instead, it has made the DTM its second home after F2, with three drivers from its camp racing in the category this year.

The most high-profile candidate of the trio is Alex Albon, who was dropped from Red Bull’s flagship F1 team at the end of last season, but remains very much a part of its motorsport programme in 2021. The Anglo-Thai will share the AlphaTauri-liveried Ferrari with Super Formula and Super GT champion Nick Cassidy, with F2 race winner Liam Lawson contesting the full season in the team’s other entry. The exact details of Albon’s programme are unclear, but he will make his DTM debut at Monza this weekend, despite the cancellation of the Turkish Grand Prix triggering a series of events leading to a clash with the French GP at Paul Ricard.

Albon’s goal is simple: return to the F1 grid in 2022 by staying race-fit in the DTM and assisting Red Bull’s grand prix team behind the scenes in his role as a test and simulator driver.

"If you think about Formula 1 as a driving style, purely how you drive these cars it’s completely different. The amount of downforce an F1 car has compared to a DTM car, it’s a lot more hustling the DTM car around" Alex Albon

“It must have been around December when the initial talks came,” says the 25-year-old. “It was something we all agreed was supportive of my year out, to stay sharp and to make sure I’ve got that driving feeling, because if you spend a year out not driving at all it could be quite difficult to get back into the swing of things smoothly. Of course, at the time DTM was changing, and Red Bull with their history and relationship with DTM, it made sense for me to join in.”

Albon’s experience in GT3 machinery is quite limited, certainly when you compare it with some of the other drivers in the field. But he has done well to get acquainted with a car that shares little in characteristics to the single-seaters he’s become accustomed to since he graduated from karting in 2012.

Albon ended up third fastest at the Lausitzring pre-season test, less than two tenths off the ultimate pace set by experienced Mercedes GT3 driver Maximilian Gotz. Uncertainty over the DTM’s new Balance of Performance system means testing times should be read with a pinch of salt, but Albon’s results bode well for his first racing season with GT3 machinery.

Nick Cassidy, AF Corse, Alex Albon, AF Corse

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

“We’ve done a fair amount [of testing], I don’t think it’s much compared to our competitors,” he says. “I think I’ve had five and a half days in the car so far. Obviously, there are a lot of GT drivers and DTM drivers who have been doing it for a while now. So, we are a little bit behind in terms of experience, but I feel like I’ve picked up the car pretty quickly and I’m getting up to speed with it.

“It’s quite a big challenge actually. If you think about Formula 1 as a driving style, purely how you drive these cars it’s completely different. The amount of downforce an F1 car has compared to a DTM car, it’s a lot more hustling the DTM car around. With engineering and the amount of people, it’s a much smaller team in AF Corse.

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“It’s still a relatively big team compared to most racing teams, but it is different. It’s quite a lot of set-up work we still do. So, it’s not been too different but yes, there’s a lot less to worry about in terms of steering wheel, buttons, and the things you can change on the car.”

It would only be natural for the average viewer to compare Albon’s performances in the DTM to those of Lawson, who has already made a strong case for an F1 graduation in the future by scoring a win on his F2 debut in Bahrain. But Albon doesn’t think the DTM is the right place to compare their speed, given the obvious differences between a GT and a formula car.

“I don’t think our performances in DTM have much relevance to Formula 1,” says the two-time F1 podium finisher. “As a team, as Red Bull, we are fighting for a good result. We want to win, I want to win. But [the DTM] is quite different. [The performance] doesn’t translate over across from single-seaters to tin-top cars. But of course, I’m competitive in nature. So, it would be silly for me to say we’ll take it easy and that’s that.”

It’s hard to overlook the fact that Red Bull has chosen Ferrari as its choice of steed, given their long-standing rivalry in F1. But while Honda would have been a logical partner because of their F1 ties, the Japanese manufacturer sees little marketing value in the DTM. This was evident when it passed over the chance to race the same NSX-GT it campaigned in Super GT during the DTM’s Class 1 engine era. Aston Martin was also not an option following its split with Red Bull Racing, and due to its increasing ties with Mercedes in the automotive industry.

Fortunately for Red Bull, AF Corse, the squad that also runs Ferrari’s factory programme in the GTE Pro class of the World Endurance Championship, is receiving some technical backing from the Italian marque’s GT division, which could come in handy as it takes on factory-supported teams Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

Alex Albon, AF Corse, Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo

Photo by: DTM

“The good thing is with Ferrari being there for support, it does mean that there is still quite a lot of assistance through data but also just general car performances,” explains Albon. “They are at every race, every test that we do, and these guys are the people that are involved in the Le Mans programme and other GT championships, so it’s great to have that shared experience that they bring. They go to almost every race weekend with the Ferrari teams.

"We want to win, I want to win. But [the DTM] is quite different. [The performance] doesn’t translate over across from single-seaters to tin-top cars" Alex Albon

“So, there’s a lot of experience there, a lot of brainpower as well behind the scenes. It is quite impressive actually to see their involvement and how much understanding there is in terms of GT cars.”

Albon, Cassidy and Lawson join an impressive cast of drivers comprising not only established DTM racers but also series newcomers, many bringing vast experience of GT3 racing with them. The return of the old guard led by Gary Paffett (Mercedes) made plenty of headlines during the off-season, while fellow champions Wittmann (BMW) and Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) add to the depth of the series.

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Then there’s the influx of ‘GT3 specialists’ such as Gotz and Kelvin van der Linde, who knows the Audi R8 LMS GT3 like the back of his hand and has titles in the Nurburgring 24 Hours and the ADAC GT Masters on his illustrious CV. How the Red Bull trio stacks up against a quality DTM field will be one of the key subplots of 2021.

Alex Albon, AF Corse, Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo

Photo by: DTM