DTM considers major format revolution: 2027 Shootout qualifying in two parts?

– The team principal meeting on Thursday evening before the DTM weekend at the Sachsenring lasted over four hours: The teams had been asked in advance to bring ideas on how to improve the DTM in 2027. The focus of the discussion was on improving the qualifying and race formats as well as a potential introduction of torque sensors.

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Above all, the 20-minute qualifying has been criticized since 2023 because no driving takes place for ten minutes, which is why former Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug recently called for changes. The current mode could be replaced in 2027 by a two-part format. This means that first the entire field competes in a ten-minute time attack and the top 10 qualify for a kind of shootout that takes place immediately afterwards.

“We definitely have to make sure that we don’t stand in the garage for ten minutes,” clarifies team principal Torsten Schubert. “That means: reducing the time of the actual qualifying and then having a single qualifying in which you drive one more lap.”

This is what the two-part qualifying mode could look like

The second part could take place immediately afterwards – on the same tires as in the first part. The fact that drivers outside the top 10 thereby have a slight tire advantage due to less driving time could add extra excitement to the race.

In the past, a shortening of qualifying to ten or 15 minutes had already been considered. However, Mercedes-AMG was mainly opposed to this because their car had difficulties getting the unheated Pirelli tires up to temperature and therefore relied on heat soak. This involves warming the tire at the garage after a lap using the brakes before going out for the time attack.

The DTM special tire introduced this year, however, heats up faster, which argues in favor of a change. “We need a bit more excitement and more action,” says Thomas Jäger, who is the sporting director of the DTM division at AMG, positively about a change.

Qualifying immediately before the race?

“If you look at other series like at Spa, how such a shootout can look, it would do the DTM good to create a more exciting format,” he says. At the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps this year, a mode was introduced where the top 4 compete against each other in a single time trial at the end.

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But the schedule is also under discussion: Currently, DTM qualifying usually takes place between nine and ten in the morning, when many fans are not yet in the stands. It is heard that TV partner ProSieben would also support moving qualifying later so that it ends only half an hour before the race start. By the way, this was already discussed three years ago.

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Two mandatory stops on both race days?

But not only the qualifying format but also the race format was part of the discussion. Apparently, most agree that the second mandatory stop, which has added more excitement on Sundays since 2025, could also be introduced on Saturdays. However, the pit stop window should then be extended to reduce the risk in the pit lane, was one demand.

Deliberately parking the cars on Saturday to save tires for Sunday was also discussed. This could be prevented by awarding drivers a point for every lap driven. The downside: If a driver is involved in a crash through no fault of their own, the damage is twice as big.

A more likely scenario is that drivers will be provided with a fourth set of tires for race days at all weekends, while in 2026 there will be three sets at half of the races.

Torque sensors remain controversial

A possible introduction of torque sensors, which are already standard in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the US IMSA series, was a topic. They measure directly at the wheel what power is delivered. This would provide better data for creating the Balance of Performance (BoP) and could prevent manufacturers and teams from cheating or bluffing with engine power.

However, the high costs speak against an introduction. “I also made a proposal,” reveals Schubert. “Points should be awarded starting from free practice so that everyone shows what they can do. What we don’t need is even more additional measuring technology.” Numerous sensors were made mandatory only this season, which increased costs.

How will it continue after the – from the perspective of almost all involved – extremely constructive meeting? “There was a lot of discussion, now ADAC has to sort it out and make a proposal,” says Schubert.

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