DTM champion Gotz to use #1 after being inspired by Verstappen

Gotz clinched his maiden crown in the DTM on his return to the series last year, beating Red Bull junior Liam Lawson and Audi star Kelvin van der Linde in a controversial season finale at the Norisring.

The German driver carried #4 on his Haupt Racing-run Mercedes in 2021, but has elected to race with #1 on his car this year after switching to Winward Racing during the off-season.

He will only become the second reigning champion after Marco Wittmann to contest a DTM season with #1 on their car since the DTM allowed drivers to pick their own car numbers in 2015, a year after F1 introduced a similar numbering system.

Gotz, who has also won titles in Formula BMW, ADAC GT Masters and the Blancpain GT Sprint Series, said he had to seize the opportunity to place the #1 sticker on his Mercedes this year as he is aware that he may not get another chance to do so in the near future.

"#4 was the team number; HRT has always been driving with #4 in different series so this was like the base number of the team," he explained.

"But now having the chance to grab the #1 on the car, putting the #1 on the car is outstanding, and I think there are not many guys who are able to do this. 

"Max Verstappen is doing in F1 because he says in this lifetime there are not many chances to do so. 

"It looks pretty nice, the Mercedes, with #1 on it. And there are not many back-to-back champions in the past in the DTM and this shows how competitive the series is. So I said, 'okay, now it is time, you're the champion, enjoy the moment having #1 on it'. 

"I think it is going to be great to see #1 on the car and a great opportunity for me using this. I've never done this before, even when I became champion in Formula BMW or in GT Masters, I always kept the number 4. 

"But I moved the teams so the #4 stays with HRT and I had a chance to choose the number so I chose #1."

Mercedes AMG Team Winward testing at Portimao

Photo by: Winward

The DTM is set for a major boost in grid numbers in its second year of GT3 regulations, with a total of 30 full-season entries expected in 2022 - more than a 50% jump from last year's 19-car field.

The series has managed to attract several GT3 racing stars such as Laurens Vanthoor, Mirko Bortolotti and Luca Stolz, while three-time champion Rene Rast and BMW driver Philipp Eng will both be returning after a year's absence to further bolster the quality of the field.

Gotz is convinced that the championship will go down the wire again, but predicts the title fight to be even fiercer than last year's four-car battle.

"I think this year it's going to be even harder," said the 36-year-old. "All these guys racing in DTM this year are big names and they showed great performance in the past. 

"We have the GT Masters champion [Ricardo Feller] in there, DTM champions [Marco] Wittmann and Rast. So I think it's going to be a great mix between young guns, experienced guys and new teams as well. 

"We don't know what Ferrari is doing, we now have Lamborghini there with top guys, Porsche, it's a big surprise, and the new BMW. 

"So I think there are many many things that we don't know yet. I think the first test will show the performance of all of them but I can tell you it's going to be a really tight and hard fight until the end of the season. 

"I think what we saw last year did not only happen one time. This year it's going to be even better and harder."