• This is what happened: Results and facts
• News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
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  This is what happened: Results and facts

• F1: Valtteri Bottas wins the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul
• DTM: Maximilian Götz wins both races in the season finale at the Norisring and is crowned 2021 DTM Champion
• DTM: A one-two victory and a podium lockout for Mercedes-AMG in the last two races of the season consolidates the manufacturers’ championship already secured at Hockenheim
• DTM Trophy: Mercedes-AMG GT4 registers three more podium finishes in the final two rounds of the season
• GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup: Felipe Fraga, Jules Gounon and Raffaele Marciello win the three-hour race in Barcelona

News snippets

Facts & figures from Istanbul: The rain-affected race weekend at the Istanbul Park Circuit presented the drivers and teams with multiple challenges last weekend. The conditions were already tricky on Saturday when Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas set the two fastest times in qualifying. Lewis then took a ten-place grid penalty for a change of the internal combustion engine, which meant that Valtteri inherited pole position from his team-mate.

From pole, the Finn proceeded to control the race with an immaculate performance that secured him a tenth Grand Prix win of his F1 career. On the final lap, he also posted the fastest race lap, scoring a bonus point for himself and for the team. He remained unperturbed by either the opposition or the difficult weather conditions, sailing through to claim a 200th Grand Prix victory for a car powered by an F1 engine built in Brixworth.

Lewis clawed his way up to fifth place with a series of bold overtaking manoeuvres. In the Drivers’ World Championship, Max Verstappen has moved back into the lead, opening up a six-point gap over Lewis. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team marginally extended its lead in the Constructors’ World Championship in Istanbul and is now 36 points ahead of Red Bull. The next race will be held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin on the weekend of 22 – 24 October.

Maximilian Götz clinches DTM drivers’ title with two home victories: Maximilian Götz (GER) of Mercedes-AMG Team HRT registered his second and third wins of the season in the DTM finale at the Norisring to narrowly take the drivers’ title. Driving the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3, the 35-year-old from Franconia (northern Bavaria) won Saturday’s race on his home track in Nuremberg ahead of Arjun Maini (IND) in another Mercedes, the number 36 car fielded by Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed. For the youthful Maini, it was a maiden podium finish in his DTM debut season.

An action-packed final race of the year on Sunday then finished with a Top Three monopoly for the brand. Götz once again secured maximum points, which were enough for him to secure the drivers’ championship. The new DTM champion was joined on the race winners’ podium by Lucas Auer (AUT) of Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD and Maximilian Buhk (GER) of Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport.

Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD finished the season in third place in the team standings, with Mercedes-AMG Team HRT in fourth. Mercedes-AMG had already wrapped up the manufacturers’ title on the previous weekend at the Hockenheimring.

The championship battle in the DTM Trophy was another nail-biter. Title contender William Tregurtha (GBR) in the CV Performance Mercedes-AMG GT4 #85 ultimately missed out on the top spot by ten points despite a P4 and another P2 at the Norisring.Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP conclude 2021 GT World Challenge Europe with lights-to-flag victory: In the final round of the GT World Challenge Europe, a three-hour endurance race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing teams claimed victories in all three classes. The experienced Pro trio of Felipe Fraga (BRA), Jules Gounon (FRA) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA) in the number 88 car of Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP drove from pole position to victory, maintaining a comfortable lead over the pack throughout. The French outfit finished the campaign as overall runners-up. Marciello likewise took second place in the drivers’ championship.

In the Silver Cup, Thomas Drouet, Simon Gachet (both FRA) and Konstantin Tereschenko (RUS) in the number 87 sister car were winners on the day. The third car to cross the finish line in this class was the number 7 of ToksportWRT crewed by Berkay Besler (TUR), Marvin Dienst (GER) and Oscar Tunjo (COL).

SPS automotive performance also had cause to celebrate. Dominik Baumann, Martin Konrad (both AUT) and Valentin Pierburg (GER) driving the number 20 Team GT3 secured victory in the Pro-Am class. SPS automotive performance thus finished the season in second place in the overall Pro-Am standings. Baumann and Pierburg were also runners-up in the Pro-Am drivers’ championship.

Schnitzelalm Racing enjoy class win number seven in the Nürburgring Endurance Series: Marek Böckmann, Marcel Marchewicz, Tim Neuser and Reinhold Renger (all GER) sharing the cockpit of the number 165 Schnitzelalm Racing GT4 recorded their seventh class win of this NLS season. The all-German driver quartet finished eighth overall – an impressive result for a GT4 car. In the eight rounds of the Nürburgring Endurance Series contested this year, the team has fielded the highest-placed car in the SP10 class seven times, a tally that was enough for them to secure this particular championship. However, because the car was driven around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife by a pool of different drivers this year, only Marchewicz gets to call himself SP10 drivers’ champion.

AKKA ASP are Pro-Am championship runners-up after class win in GT4 European Series season finale: In the GT4 European Series season finale at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Jim Pla (both FRA) put in another strong performance to claim second place in the Pro-Am class on Saturday and second overall on Sunday. The two drivers of the number 87 AKKA ASP GT4 thus end the 2021 campaign occupying second place in the Pro-Am standings. Their team-mates Benjamin Ricci (FRA) and Mauro Ricci (ITA) in the number 61 car rounded off a successful weekend for AKKA ASP with a P2 in the Am class on Saturday.

Three wins for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in Italian and Russian GT4 series: A P2 finish in the Am class in Saturday’s Italian GT Championship race was enough for Diego di Fabio and Luca Magnoni (both ITA) in the number 207 of Nova Racing to wrap up the sprint championship in their class with one round to spare. Although the duo went into Sunday’s final 50-minute race at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello under no pressure at all, they still managed to go one better, bowing out with a class win. Enrico Bettera and Fulvio Ferri (both ITA) driving the number 228 sister car also delivered two second places in the Pro-Am class.

Bar Baruch (ISR) and Luca Segù (ITA) in the #90 GT4 of AKM Motorsport also concluded their season in optimal fashion, securing overall victory finale in the second race on Sunday.

In the Russian GT4 Series, Capital RT MotorSharks won both races of the weekend at the Fort Grozny Autodrom. In the 17-lap race on Saturday, the team even had the satisfaction of celebrating a one-two victory as Anton Nemkin in the GT4 #83 won from pole position ahead of team-mate Denis Remenyako in the number 13 car. On Sunday, Remenyako became the second Capital driver to secure a win this weekend. Aleksandr Vaintrub, competing in his own team’s #88, brought home a good third place. Unlike many other series, the Russian GT4 has not yet entered its winter break. The season finale will take place on 30/31 October at the Sochi Autodrom.

Social Media News

#F1RaceDebrief: In the latest extra-long episode of our Race Debrief, James Allison answers the key questions to have emerged from the Turkish Grand Prix. Among other things, why did we change Lewis’s Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)? And what would have been the optimal strategy for the difficult track conditions?

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tvlv99AZtc

#F1Simulation: With limitations on actual track time and rapidly evolving technology, simulation tools are becoming increasingly important in F1. In our video, we explain the different types of simulation technology used by F1 teams to prepare for race weekends.

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlRwRayLPIY

#WorldMentalHealthDay: On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, Toto Wolff talks candidly about dealing with stress, his mental health routines, mindfulness, reflection and much more besides.

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi7FANg_2CM

#InsideTack: Appearing on the Inside Tack show direct from the F1 factory in Brackley, Toto Wolff, James Allison, Jim Ratcliffe, Ben Ainslie and Dave Endean revealed the identity of the INEOS Britannia core team members for the 37th America’s Cup.

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuwCYJsz2QY