Will Mercedes-AMG only have one team competing in the DTM in 2026? What this has to do with the balance of performance and why there is so much frustration after the final race
Will Mercedes-AMG continue to compete in the DTM with two teams? Even at AMG’s end-of-season party in Affalterbach on Friday, there was no clear answer as to how the team will line up for 2026. However, after the bitter season finale, Mercedes-AMG customer sports manager Stefan Wendl is demanding progress in the Balance of Performance (BoP) in 2026, which would justify competing with two teams in the first place.
“The DTM is very important to us—and we definitely have a score to settle,” said Wendl. “We want to hold talks with the ADAC and know exactly what we are investing in. Because this is an investment by us and by each individual team.”
Mercedes-AMG was the only manufacturer in the DTM this year, alongside Lamborghini, to support more than one team, with Winward and Landgraf, which is not necessarily an advantage in the battle for a better classification. This is because the teams are also competing with each other, making it more difficult to bluff.
“Different strategies for BoP”: Is AMG bowing to the DTM trend?
But is it even the manufacturer’s goal to field four cars?
“That’s exactly the question we’re dealing with,” replies Wendl. “We deliberately chose this constellation. This is in contrast to the trend in recent years, where almost all manufacturers have withdrawn to just one team.”
At Mercedes-AMG, internal competition is allowed “because we think that the two teams push each other to peak performance. There is another option, which is to explicitly avoid this in order to be able to use different strategies in the BoP. But that has not been the way we have approached motorsport so far.“
Mercedes-AMG on the title decision: ”It feels bad.”
However, that could apparently change, because Mercedes-AMG is still smarting after the season finale. Landgraf-Mercedes driver Auer was in the lead for almost the entire season after two victories on the first two weekends of the season, but was then overtaken by Manthey-Porsche driver Ayhancan Güven in the last race of the season, finishing runner-up by four points.
“It feels bad, especially when you think about the last race event,” says Wendl. “When other brands are able to compensate for two or three negative BoP decisions over a weekend and still have the fastest car in the last race, which we definitely couldn’t do.”
He may be alluding to the fact that not only was the Schubert BMW extremely strong, which led to accusations from Manthey, but also that Güven’s Manthey Porsche drove to victory and the fastest race lap on Sunday despite a restrictor that was reduced by two millimeters over the course of the weekend and a total of 20 kilograms more ballast.
“We weren’t allowed back into the window”
According to Wendl, Mercedes-AMG “performed very strongly” with both teams in 2025 and “won the manufacturers’ title for the 16th time,” but Auer had “a perfect season” with the Landgraf team, “without making any noticeable major mistakes,” yet still did not become champion.
“However, we saw a significant dip from the first qualifying session at the Nürburgring onwards – and, from our point of view, we were no longer allowed into the window that would have allowed us to compete for victories in the last three events,” says Wendl, criticizing the BoP, which is created by the SRO Motorsports Group as a service provider for the ADAC.
Mercedes-AMG calls for clear solution strategy for better BoP
Does he have an explanation for the unfavorable development in the hot phase of the championship? “No, I don’t,” replies Wendl. “But I expect the ADAC to clarify this over the winter as part of the manufacturer TWGs and also clearly present how they intend to do better next year.“
He is aware that creating a correct BoP is highly complex given the constantly changing conditions on a race weekend and that one must ”have the necessary respect for what they do.” Nevertheless, he demands “that the BoP always be as good as possible, because that also determines the sporting value of the championship.”
With regard to next year, he said they now want to wait for the results and then make a decision “as soon as possible” on how to position themselves in the DTM.
