Christian Vietoris

Christian Vietoris (/viːˈtɔːrɪs/; German: [viːˈtoːʀɪs]; born 1 April 1989) is a German racing driver. He competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, most recently for HWA Team.^[1] Vietoris has also been a part of the revitalized Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, together with Robert Wickens and Roberto Merhi. Vietoris made his debut in the DTM in 2011, driving for Persson Motorsport, before being promoted to HWA for the 2012 DTM season.

Christian Vietoris
Vietoris in 2007
Nationality	German
Born	(1989-04-01) 1 April 1989 (age 33) Gerolstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany
DTM career
Debut season	2011
Current team	Mercedes-Benz DTM Team Mücke
Car number	8
Former teams	HWA AG, Persson Motorsport
Starts	76
Wins	1
Poles	3
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	4th in 2013, 2014
Finished last season	14th (60 pts)
Previous series
2010 2009–10 2008–09 2007 2006–07 2005–06	GP2 Series GP2 Asia Series Formula Three Euroseries German Formula Three A1 Grand Prix Formula BMW ADAC
Championship titles
2006–07 2006	A1 Grand Prix (w/Hülkenberg) Formula BMW ADAC

Career

Karting

Vietoris started his career through karting, the most common entry point for all racing drivers, in 1994. Nine years after starting his karting career, the young German was the national Junior Kart champion and a year later came second Western German Karting Championship.

Formula BMW

In 2005, Vietoris moved up to Formula BMW ADAC with Eifelland Racing. Vietoris finished his first FBMW campaign sixteenth in the Drivers' Championship with fifteen points, sharing his position with fellow German Dominik Wasem. In 2006, Vietoris moved to Josef Kaufmann Racing, where he won the Drivers' Championship with 277 points and taking nine race wins, his nearest rival being Finland's Mika Mäki. As well as his German FBMW title, Vietoris won the Formula BMW World Final, ahead of other FBMW champions such as Robert Wickens, the 2006 US FBMW champion, and the British Formula BMW champion, Niall Breen, winning himself a test for the BMW Sauber F1 team.

Following his impressive performances in Formula BMW, Vietoris was picked by A1 Team Germany to replace Nico Hülkenberg for the Mexican round of the 2006–07 season.

Formula Three

 

Vietoris competing at the opening round of the 2008 Formula Three Euroseries season at Hockenheim.

In 2007, Vietoris competed in the ATS Formel 3 Cup for Josef Kaufmann Racing, finishing in fifth. He moved on to the Formula Three Euroseries in 2008 for Mücke Motorsport. He had a solid season, ending up eighth in the championship with one win coming at the Norisring. He set a pair of fastest laps – at Mugello and Brands Hatch – and was on pole at the Nürburgring.

He continued in the F3 Euroseries in 2009 with Mücke Motorsport, finishing as runner-up to the dominant Jules Bianchi. Vietoris won four races over the course of the season, adding a further four podiums and a fastest lap at Brands once again, as he helped keep Mücke in contention for the teams title until he left for GP2 Asia.

GP2 Series

Vietoris missed the final round of the F3 Euroseries season to join up with the DAMS team for a GP2 Asia Series test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. He raced in the 2009–10 season for the team. He moved to Racing Engineering for the 2010 main series, winning one race en route to ninth place in the drivers' championship. He missed the final round of the season due to appendicitis; his seat was taken by Ho-Pin Tung.^{[citation needed]}

Vietoris remains with Racing Engineering for the 2011 GP2 Series season, alongside Dani Clos. After crashing heavily during the first round of the season at Istanbul, he complained of recurring headaches and was replaced by Álvaro Parente until he recovered and returned to the cockpit in Valencia.^[2] At Spa-Francorchamps, he took his first series pole position and converted it into victory, also setting his first fastest lap in the process. He also won the sprint race finale at Monza, rising to seventh in the drivers' championship.

DTM

 

Vietoris driving for the HWA Team at Hungaroring during the 2014 DTM season

Vietoris made his debut in the DTM, dovetailing his 2011 GP2 campaign with a season driving a Persson Motorsport Mercedes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. His best result as a rookie was a 5th place at Oschersleben. Another highlight was reaching the semi-final at the non-points Showevent at the Olympic Stadium in München.^{[citation needed]}

On 3 April 2012 Mercedes announced the revival of the Mercedes-Benz Junior Team that has guided several notable drivers in their racing careers like Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Karl Wendlinger and Michael Schumacher. With that announcement came the news that Vietoris, together with the reigning Formula 3 Euroseries champion Roberto Merhi and the reigning Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion Robert Wickens, would become a part of the new Junior Team and that the three of them would drive for the Junior Team in the 2012 DTM season.

7-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher was to be involved with the three drivers by serving as a mentor. Driving under the Junior Team-moniker meant for Vietoris that he would switch teams for his sophomore season in the DTM, trading in his place at Persson Motorsport for the elite team of Mercedes in the DTM, HWA Team, replacing Bruno Spengler, who left Mercedes for BMW.^[3]

Records

Vietoris is the youngest driver ever to win an A1 Grand Prix race. He took the chequered flag during the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand at Taupo Motorsport Park at just 18 years, nine months and 19 days old, beating the previous record for youngest A1GP winner by exactly five months. That record was held by the team's former driver, Nico Hülkenberg, who won on his debut at Zandvoort in 2006.^[4]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2005	Formula BMW ADAC	Eifelland Racing	19	0	0	0	0	17	16th
2006	Formula BMW ADAC	Josef Kaufmann Racing	18	9	9	3	16	277	1st
2007	German Formula 3 Championship	Josef Kaufmann Racing	12	1	2	1	7	62	6th
2008	Formula 3 Euro Series	Mücke Motorsport	19	1	1	2	4	36	6th
2009	Formula 3 Euro Series	Mücke Motorsport	18	4	0	1	8	75	2nd
2009–10	GP2 Asia Series	DAMS	8	1	0	0	1	9	10th
2010	GP2 Series	Racing Engineering	17	1	0	0	3	29	9th
2011	GP2 Series	Racing Engineering	14	2	1	1	3	35	7th
	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Persson Motorsport	10	0	0	0	0	4	14th
2012	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	HWA Team	10	0	0	0	0	25	12th
2013	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	HWA Team	10	0	1	2	4	71	4th
2014	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	HWA Team	10	1	0	0	2	69	4th
2015	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	HWA AG	18	0	1	0	1	56	16th
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9	Team Zakspeed	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2016	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Mercedes-Benz DTM Team Mücke	18	0	1	0	2	60	14th
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9	AMG-Team HTP Motorsport	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	2nd
2018	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Strakka Racing	2	0	0	0	0	6	41st
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing	1	0	0	0	0	4	23rd

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2008	Mücke Motorsport	Dallara F308/050	Mercedes	HOC 1 7	HOC 2 2	MUG 1 28†	MUG 2 19	PAU 1 5	PAU 2 4	NOR 1 6	NOR 2 1	ZAN 1 13	ZAN 2 11	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 Ret	BRH 1 5	BRH 2 Ret	CAT 1 3	CAT 2 2	BUG 1 28†	BUG 2 10	HOC 1 EX	HOC 2 Ret	6th	36
2009	Mücke Motorsport	Dallara F308/050	Mercedes	HOC 1 7	HOC 2 2	LAU 1 8	LAU 2 1	NOR 1 6	NOR 2 1	ZAN 1 3	ZAN 2 4	OSC 1 4	OSC 2 1	NÜR 1 8	NÜR 2 2	BRH 1 3	BRH 2 4	CAT 1 6	CAT 2 4	DIJ 1 1	DIJ 2 6	HOC 1	HOC 2	2nd	75

^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2006–07	Germany	NED SPR	NED FEA	CZE SPR	CZE FEA	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	IDN SPR	IDN FEA	NZL SPR	NZL FEA	AUS SPR	AUS FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	MEX SPR Ret	MEX FEA 9	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	GBR SPR	GBR SPR	1st	128
2007–08		NED SPR 6	NED FEA 9	CZE SPR 7	CZE FEA 8	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	ZHU SPR	ZHU FEA	NZL SPR 2	NZL FEA 1	AUS SPR	AUS FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	MEX SPR	MEX FEA	SHA SPR	SHA FEA	GBR SPR	GBR SPR			8th	83

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2010	Racing Engineering	CAT FEA Ret	CAT SPR 18	MON FEA 14	MON SPR DNS	IST FEA 7	IST SPR Ret	VAL FEA 12	VAL SPR Ret	SIL FEA 6	SIL SPR 10	HOC FEA Ret	HOC SPR 10	HUN FEA 2	HUN SPR 2	SPA FEA 11	SPA SPR Ret	MNZ FEA 4	MNZ SPR 1	YMC FEA	YMC SPR	9th	29
2011	Racing Engineering	IST FEA 11	IST SPR Ret	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	MON SPR	VAL FEA Ret	VAL SPR 13	SIL FEA 2	SIL SPR Ret	NÜR FEA Ret	NÜR SPR 4	HUN FEA 8	HUN SPR 10	SPA FEA 1	SPA SPR 13	MNZ FEA 6	MNZ SPR 1			7th	35

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2009–10	DAMS	YMC1 FEA 6	YMC1 SPR 1	YMC2 FEA Ret	YMC2 SPR 14	BHR1 FEA 14	BHR1 SPR 9	BHR2 FEA Ret	BHR2 SPR 14	10th	9

Complete DTM results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2011	Persson Motorsport	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008	HOC 13	ZAN 15	SPL 15	LAU 9	NOR 11	NÜR 13	BRH 13	OSC 5	VAL 12	HOC Ret									14th	4
2012	HWA Team	DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé	HOC 4	LAU 11	BRH 6	SPL Ret	NOR 8	NÜR 16	ZAN Ret	OSC 12	VAL 12	HOC 10									12th	25
2013	HWA Team	DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé	HOC 3	BRH 8	SPL 7	LAU 3	NOR 3	MSC 10	NÜR 3	OSC 18	ZAN 15	HOC 7									4th	77
2014	HWA Team	DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé	HOC 15	OSC 1	HUN 20†	NOR 21†	MSC 7	SPL 9	NÜR 6	LAU 2	ZAN 5	HOC 14									4th	69
2015	HWA AG	DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé	HOC 1 14	HOC 2 11	LAU 1 17	LAU 2 7	NOR 1 4	NOR 2 2	ZAN 1 12	ZAN 2 8	SPL 1 4	SPL 2 8	MSC 1 Ret	MSC 2 20	OSC 1 18	OSC 2 21	NÜR 1 15	NÜR 2 14	HOC 1 12	HOC 2 Ret	16th	56
2016	Mercedes-Benz DTM Team Mücke	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	HOC 1 5	HOC 2 14	SPL 1 Ret	SPL 2 17	LAU 1 5	LAU 2 7	NOR 1 10	NOR 2 15	ZAN 1 3	ZAN 2 20†	MSC 1 23	MSC 2 14	NÜR 1 13	NÜR 2 17	HUN 1 17	HUN 2 14	HOC 1 22	HOC 2 2	14th	60

^† Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 75% of the winner's race distance.

References

1. "Mercedes-Benz Junior Team: Bringing on new talent in the DTM". Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. 3 April 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
2. O'Leary, Jamie (19 May 2011). "Vietoris to miss Barcelona". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
3. "Mercedes-Benz Junior Team: Back for 2012!". Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
4. . A1GP.com News. 21 January 2008. Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christian Vietoris.

• Official website (in German)
• Christian Vietoris career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Nico Hülkenberg	Formula BMW ADAC Champion 2006	Succeeded by Jens Klingmann
Preceded by Marco Holzer	Formula BMW World Final Winner 2006	Succeeded by Philipp Eng
Preceded by Nicolas Lapierre Alexandre Prémat (Team France)	A1 Grand Prix Champion with Nico Hülkenberg (Team Germany) 2006–07	Succeeded by Neel Jani (Team Switzerland)