Klaus Weber · DTM & Touring Cars
After three double-zeros, the paddock is asking: does BMW’s DTM project still have a future?
Three race weekends, six races, not a single point. That’s the sober tally for BMW at the Lausitzring, and there’s no way to sugarcoat it. Anyone looking soberly at the DTM class standings sees a works team that has won championships in the past and is now fighting just to keep up.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
On average, the BMW M4 GT3 is currently missing eight tenths of a second per lap to the front. In the DTM, where the technical regulations are meant to keep the cars close together, that’s a massive gap. At the Lausitzring, the best BMW qualified in eleventh — seven positions behind the best Mercedes and four behind the leading Ferrari customer team.
This gap didn’t come out of nowhere. Talk to the race engineers in the paddock and you keep hearing the same point: the M4 GT3’s current aero package was primarily developed for the longer, faster corners of international GT3 circuits. On the tighter, more technical layouts of the DTM calendar — Lausitzring, Norisring, Sachsenring — the car lacks exactly the mid-speed agility that’s decisive for good lap times.
What’s Being Discussed Internally
According to sources in the paddock, two directions are currently being discussed within the team. First: an adjusted setup window that prioritizes more mechanical grip at the expense of top speed — a compromise that seems more sensible on the short DTM circuits than on international GT3 rounds. Second: talks with the Balance of Performance commission about adjusting the weight class, after the latest measurements showed the M4 GT3 is noticeably at a disadvantage compared directly with Mercedes and Ferrari.
Both measures take time. A setup update can be implemented within a few weeks, whereas a BoP adjustment is subject to a formal process that can drag on over several race weekends. In plain terms: things are likely to get tighter for BMW before they get better.
The Uncomfortable Truth
However you look at it: three consecutive double-zeros in a season with only eight weekends is no longer a snapshot — it’s a structural problem. The discussion in the paddock has long since stopped being just about lap times and has turned to the fundamental direction of the program for next season.
Whether the project has a future won’t be decided at the Lausitzring. But anyone who sees no reaction in the coming weeks — technical or personnel — should brace for a longer dry spell. The DTM rarely forgives deficits quickly, and the competition never sleeps.
