– What makes Maro Engel so strong this year? Ahead of the Nürburgring weekend (all info on TV times, stream, etc.), the Mercedes-AMG veteran leads the DTM overall standings by a solid 21 points ahead of Aston Martin contender Nicki Thiim – and is closer to his dream of the DTM title than ever before. Because there are only three race weekends left to go.
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“Maro Engel has built up a small lead and is incredibly consistent this year,” DTM challenger Thiim also notices. But otherwise, 2026 has so far been the year of the veteran, who will celebrate his 41st birthday in two weeks.
Engel won in June perhaps the most prestigious edition of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring so far, as he was the only Mercedes-AMG driver in the same car who could keep up with Formula 1 star Max Verstappen’s pace. And he won the 12-hour classic in Bathurst in mid-February.
Achilles’ heel qualifying became a strength
Engel, who had already lost his DTM cockpit twice and returned in 2017 and 2022, was known in the past mainly as a consistent points scorer who is particularly strong on flowing tracks. But this year he seems more complete and stronger as a racer. This is also reflected in the crucial DTM qualifying sessions, which were previously considered his weakness.
Engel not only secured the only Mercedes-AMG pole position of the season so far in Spielberg, but started half of all qualifying sessions in the top 5 and only twice outside the top 10. With an average starting position of 5.9, he is even better than AMG teammate Lucas Auer (6.4).
This also increases the chance of race wins, as he proved in Spielberg with his third DTM triumph – the only one for Mercedes-AMG this season so far.
“Demand that it gets better tomorrow”: How hard Engel works
Engel’s secret to success? “We have been working hard on ourselves, on our package – and I on myself – for years,” says the Monaco resident. “I believe the last few years have probably been my best driving-wise. The demand is always that it gets even better tomorrow. And with this mindset, I approach everything – to constantly improve myself.”
He explains that he has also “continuously refined and improved” this way of working with his teams over the years. “We paid attention to all important details to achieve a race success globally. Therefore, I am happy that it has translated into such strong results.”
“Able to read a race in the car”
What sounds like platitudes is much more than that. This becomes clear when talking to people in his environment. “Maro knows the regulations inside and out,” says an expert on the Mercedes-AMG driver. “That is one of his great strengths. And he is able to read a race in the car.”
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This was shown this year in the Saturday race at the Lausitzring during the Full-Course Yellow phase – even though Engel’s action ultimately failed. While Auer and Maximilian Paul eased off early, Engel kept up the pace until the end of the FCY countdown because he knew that the 80 km/h speed limit only applies after the countdown ends.
His mistake, however, was braking too late, which meant he was 5 km/h too fast at the start of the FCY phase and received a 15-second penalty.
Outlaps as a special discipline
Apart from that, Engel’s strength in the “outlaps,” which Motorsport-Total.com has already reported on extensively, is now well known: Hardly any driver understands better how to load the cold tires after a pit stop exactly so that they deliver optimal performance.
In the DTM, this is not insignificant, because especially since overtaking is not easy on many tracks, pit stops offer the opportunity to gain positions. Engel succeeded in this on Sunday in Oschersleben with the overcut strategy, moving up from seventh to third place.
Engel’s strong performances could also be related to the fact that he has found his sporting home with the Winward team. While, for example, DTM teammate Jules Gounon competes in the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) for the 2-Seas team, Engel races in the GTWCE and on the Nürburgring Nordschleife for the German-Texan team of Christian Hohenadel.
Who are Engel’s “key people”?
“There are always many familiar faces you work with,” Engel himself confirms. Who are the most important? “In the DTM, first my engineer Mauricio Moreria,” Engel refers to his Portuguese race engineer, with whom he has formed a duo since 2024.
Besides that, Engel also names Winward team boss Hohenadel and engineer Marius Avemarg, who is Winward project leader in the GTWCE and on the Nordschleife this year – and was also his race engineer for the Bathurst win.
And the chief mechanic is also one of the “key people,” as Engel says. “I have been working with Eric Lingemann for almost ten years now in various projects – and now in the third year in the DTM.”
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