Last year, the format of the DTM was changed radically. Has the new format proved successful?
Absolutely! Two races and one qualifying session per race – that’s the way to go in my view. It’s true that it puts a strain on everyone involved and we now have more starting laps which are always particularly costly. But the fans are treated to a double dose of action. We’re continually working to make the DTM more and more attractive. That’s why the move toward two races per weekend was definitely right.
In 2016, there will only be a single rookie in the entire DTM field. Will this make the series even more competitive?
That’s hardly possible anymore in the DTM. We’re expecting the entire field to be extremely close together again, not least because nobody was able to make a major leap in terms of technology. A small unknown quantity, no doubt, are our colleagues from Mercedes-Benz who, following a production model change are now putting a new DTM car on the grid as well. For us, that won’t be the case until 2017.
Oschersleben has been replaced with Budapest on the 2016 DTM calendar. How do you feel about that?
Personally, I feel this is good, even though we weren’t so strong at Budapest in 2014. We’d like to correct that impression in 2016. The race at Budapest was a nice event in 2014 with a large crowd in spite of the date of the event that may not have been the best. Enthusiasm for the DTM there is huge. That was the case at Oschersleben as well, but the races were always extremely expensive. Due to the track characteristics, we’d regularly ruin our cars there.
You’re competing with a near-unchanged driver squad. Only Nico Müller and Adrien Tambay swapped teams. What was the reason for swapping cockpits?
It’s no secret that our expectations of both drivers were a little higher last year, especially as both have previously shown that they have higher potential. Switching to another team often breathes new life into a situation and provides new energy to improve it. That’s what we’re hoping for in Nico and Adrien’s case.
In Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Mattias Ekström and Edoardo Mortara are forming a team for the first time this year. Why?
As a team, the two would have scored a dominant win of the teams’ classification by points last year. We’re determined to clinch all three titles this year – the drivers,’ manufacturers’ and teams’ classifications. That’s why we thought it made sense to unite two potential point scorers in a team.
Are team orders necessary for clinching the drivers’ title?
Team orders are a legitimate element of race strategy in motorsport, but they shouldn‘t get out of hand in a way that distorts the competition, or overstep the bounds of good taste.