Why 'war' is good for the DTM

The DTM has had its share of what you could consider controversies in 2015.

Audi raised the ire of BMW and Mercedes for seeking to avoid a penalty for an engine change after Hockenheim's season opener.

Then there was the row over Hankook's tyres following the Lausitzring round.

Then BMW installed a new 'cooling system' on Tom Blomqvist's M4 at the Norisring, which was deemed performance-enhancing and outlawed.

But in the context of what happened on the final lap at the Red Bull Ring last Sunday, they're small fry.

With three little words and one minor touch, war broke out between Audi and Mercedes. Despite sensitivities around the 'w' word, and the fact it is a PR disaster for Audi, it's box-office gold for the DTM.

Scheider and Wehrlein loom behind Wickens at the Red Bull Ring

Timo Scheider started the final lap of Sunday's wet race looking to pass Robert Wickens for sixth, and when Wickens defended on the inside at Turn 2, his Mercedes stablemate Pascal Wehrlein got the jump on both drivers.

Those in Audi attire were unhappy with the defensive tactics, feeling they were constructed to help Wehrlein. If that was part of Mercedes' thinking, it would hardly be a first in either the manufacturer-focused DTM, or indeed motorsport in general.

About 15 seconds later, both Mercedes drivers were in the gravel trap at Turn 3, after Scheider's RS 5 kissed the back of Wickens' C-Coupe in the braking area, sending it into Wehrlein's.

Normally, this would spark a controversy of its own. Two drivers - both inside the points - taken out on the last lap of the race by one representing a different brand. Cue comments from outraged Wickens and Wehrlein.

Then you add the fact that Wehrlein started the race as the championship leader and is firmly in a title fight, currently against three Audi drivers. Cue comments from an outraged Mercedes.

Then, you add three little words in German, "schieb ihn raus" - "push him out" - delivered by Audi (we'll come back to the 'who') to Scheider and broadcast just before the contact was made.

Cue the biggest controversy in the DTM in years, at least since Audi's withdrawal from the 2007 Barcelona race, and possibly in the series' modern era.

It made headlines around the world. A clearly fired-up Wehrlein's comment to AUTOSPORT that "if Audi has to win a championship like this, I would say they've started a big war today", has been picked up by sites globally, accompanying video footage that the DTM very wisely made sure was online very quickly.

VIDEO: THE "PUSH HIM OUT" MOMENT

The series has pounced on the opportunity, rather than shying away from the controversy, uploading interviews and using #schiebihnraus as a hashtag on social media.

For an entertainment product, the situation is worth its weight in gold. Like the massive - and fortunately ramification-free - accident between Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost at the end of the very first Formula E race in Beijing last September.

If you're not Formula 1 (or NASCAR in the USA), motorsport needs this sort of drama to escape the abyss of endless sport taking place at any given moment to grab 15 seconds in the spotlight, in media landscapes traditionally dominated by football codes. It's almost akin to Australian surfer Mick Fanning having an encounter with a shark - on live TV - during a competition in South Africa last month.

The Scheider vs Mercedes video has already been viewed nearly half a million times on the DTM's YouTube channel, making it the third most-popular clip since the channel was started in early 2013. And the saga has been perfect fodder for Germany's biggest national newspaper, the tabloid Bild, with which the DTM has beefed up its media association this year.

Scheider appeared to face the media after the controversial clash © XPB

A clip on the Bild website shows Audi mechanics - whether they had heard the radio call is unknown - celebrating the move, which in the heat of the moment is understandable. But in the hours following the race, Audi could have handled the situation better.

Quelling suggestions within the media centre that the controversial radio call was made by Scheider's engineer, motorsport boss Wolfgang Ullrich appeared to take responsibility on German TV immediately following the chequered flag. That Ullrich was at the helm in Austria came as a result of DTM chief Dieter Gass missing the round due to illness.

About half an hour later, the post-race press conference with manufacturer representatives led with the topic.

However, when asked specifically about the source of the message delivered to Scheider, Ullrich said: "It can't be from my side, because I'm not linked to any of the drivers directly. I only talk to the heads of the teams, so it can't be me."

Several hours later, in an Audi statement, the message had changed. Ullrich took ownership of the statement. Apparently he was linked to the drivers after all... and it wasn't an instruction, he was just expressing frustration as a racer.

A due level of remorse was expressed, but even that came with an implied, 'they started it' tone in reference to Wickens' and Wehrlein's treatment of Scheider.

For his part, Scheider did front the media on Sunday evening, when some might have shied away from it. Another tick for the DTM and Audi, in maximising the situation and keeping the story moving. Scheider said he felt like "shit", but that he wasn't aware of the radio call until after the race.

'Schieb ihn raus' is the DTM's biggest spat since Barcelona 2007 © XPB

The two-time champion noted that while many drivers went off at Turn 3 during the race (nearly half of the field, by AUTOSPORT's reckoning) he didn't miss his braking point on that final lap. When you're vastly experienced and following two cars closely in greasy conditions, though, that doesn't preclude motorsport's version of a professional foul.

Scheider was excluded from the race by stewards, who also elected to send an investigation into Team Phoenix and Audi Sport directly to the German governing body DMSB's court of appeal. There, the most extreme penalties could stretch as far as licences being revoked, but it would seem unlikely that the grid will be smaller when the DTM resumes at Moscow Raceway in a month.

However, the last part of that sentence does slightly diminish what the DTM will gain from what has been a massive surge of interest in the past 48 hours. Again, I am reminded of Formula E's opener, and the interest that the conclusion of its first race attracted, only for there to be a 10-week gap before its second.

If the next time Wehrlein and Scheider shared a track was going to be at, say, the Nurburgring in a fortnight - rather than Russia in one month - the narrative would have continued to dominate headlines within Germany and interest in the round would have been massive. It will remain a big deal, and no doubt the series will invite the pair to represent Mercedes and Audi at the pre-Moscow press conference later this month.

By then, the key players will be talking about having moved on, and merely focusing on the weekend ahead. But that two of the world's biggest manufacturers, and the DTM's traditional rivals, are at loggerheads right now - however uneasy that might be for Audi, Ullrich and Scheider in particular - is great news.

As good as racing in any series might be, you need something to escape the pack and create a compelling, easy-to-illustrate narrative that piques the interest of mainstream media outlets. With a driver appearing to follow a team order to take out rival cars on the final lap, the DTM has ended up in that position.

Through that, more people will be aware of the series than this time last week. And, more crucially, more motorsport fans will be inclined to tune in to watch Audi versus Mercedes, along with BMW, to see what happens next.