Mentor Reuter about sensation man Wiebelhaus: "Like a memory stick"

– The 19-year-old Hessian Finn Wiebelhaus was the sensation of the DTM season opener in Spielberg: After already making a good impression at the official DTM test and on the first race day in the Ford Mustang GT3, the HRT rookie qualified second on Sunday – missing his first DTM pole by only 0.085 seconds.

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The DTM paddock was amazed, only legend Manuel Reuter, who discovered the youngster and has been working intensively with him at HRT since 2024, says: “What do you mean sensation? I wouldn’t say that. For us, this doesn’t come out of nowhere.” It is “no coincidence that he is now where he is.”

The 64-year-old from Mainz, who became ITC champion in 1996 and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989 and 1996, convinced Wiebelhaus at the end of 2023 to say goodbye to formula racing after one year and switch to GT racing. Since then, Wiebelhaus has developed significantly.

Reuter sees parallels to Bortolotti and Kelvin van der Linde

And what impresses Reuter about his protégé besides the “speed”: “He is a good example of a driver who accepts things and is clever enough to implement them.” While other drivers sometimes take his criticism personally, Wiebelhaus deals with it “constructively.” He describes him as “calm and structured – and he is slowly understanding what it’s all about,” says Reuter.

The HRT youth manager even sees parallels to DTM champion Mirko Bortolotti, whom he coached at Grasser in 2022, and Kelvin van der Linde, with whom he won the ADAC GT Masters title at Rutronik in 2019. “Each of these guys is different, but they are all super structured and uncompromisingly follow their path,” Reuter notes.

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He also recognizes this in Wiebelhaus. “It already starts with technical understanding,” he gives an example. “How do I talk to the engineers? Absorbing this and then passing this feedback on to the guys like a memory stick – that is one of the decisive factors. And not immediately questioning the whole setup and saying: ‘No, that doesn’t work.’ Believe in it!”

How Reuter discovered Wiebelhaus thanks to his father’s running shop

But how did Reuter actually discover Wiebelhaus? It all started through a mutual acquaintance – and the running shop of father Jost Wiebelhaus in Frankfurt. “Finn was racing in French Formula 4 at the time – and it was about whether to continue on the formula path. Through a mutual triathlon acquaintance, the first contact was made because he said: ‘Talk to Manuel!'”

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Reuter’s advice at the time? “If means X are not available, this formula path in Germany is damn difficult,” he told father Wiebelhaus. “And if the boy has talent, then the path ‘cars with roofs’ – whether it’s a GT3, an LMDh, or a hypercar – is very attractive. So I said I think that’s realistic and feasible. And they trusted me.”

Already from Finn Wiebelhaus’ first meters in the GT3 car, when he participated in the Mercedes-AMG Young Driver Test in Valencia in November 2023, Reuter was impressed: “What stood out was how composed he was, even though he had basically only been driving cars for a year.” At that time, Wiebelhaus had only three years of motorsport experience, as the youngster drove his first kart season in 2021.

“It hurts, there are tears, there are defeats”

Since Wiebelhaus moved to Austria about two months ago, where Reuter also lives, the collaboration has intensified. “But it is up to each driver how much they question themselves and how deep that should go,” Reuter makes clear, who leads all youth work at the HRT team. “Everyone is the architect of their own fortune.”

However, the long-time Opel driver is not much for sparing either. “The guys have to know that this path is totally tough,” he says. “Only the stopwatch counts. You have many envy, the path in the comfort zone doesn’t work. It hurts, there are tears, there are defeats. But if you work hard every day, it works.” (SPONSORED LINK: Get tickets now for the 2026 DTM season!)

“I might be extreme in one area or another,” Reuter admits, “but at the end of the day, it pays off. Being pedantic, putting your finger on the wound, and not sugarcoating things. You can make a mistake once, but not a second time. That’s the only way if you want to become a champion.”

No wonder that after his protégé’s strong DTM start, Reuter is now trying to keep him grounded. The impressive qualifying was “a small step,” but there is “still a long way to go.” Because especially in duels, which are much tougher in DTM than in other GT3 series, there is still room for improvement. “Finn will still pay his dues a few times,” Reuter predicts.

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