– DTM rookie Finn Wiebelhaus is one of the big surprises of the season: The 20-year-old HRT Ford driver raced to second place on the grid at the opener in Austria and has already finished on the podium twice in the races at the Lausitzring and Norisring. Now the Hessian even has his first DTM victory in sight.
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Wiebelhaus only started professional motorsport in 2020. “As a child, I watched a lot of Formula 1 with my father and was a huge Sebastian Vettel fan,” says the current HRT Ford driver. “Sebastian Vettel was my big idol during his time at Red Bull.”
“Otherwise, motorsport did not play a big role in my family. My first virtual laps were with the 2016 Formula 1 game and a steering wheel for 40 euros,” the current DTM driver recalls with a smile about his beginnings.
“In 2020, we then went to the kart fair in Offenbach and spontaneously bought a used kart there. My mother was not so enthusiastic about it at first. After that, everything got going pretty quickly and six years later I am racing in the DTM.”
Finn Wiebelhaus with rapid rise to the DTM
Wiebelhaus started his career in karting before moving to the Italian and French Formula 4 championships for the 2023 season. Afterwards, legend Manuel Reuter convinced the up-and-coming talent to switch to GT racing.
After two years in the ADAC GT Masters, where the 20-year-old even secured the championship title last year, the step up to the DTM followed at the start of this season. “Sometimes it still feels a bit surreal,” says Wiebelhaus, who benefited greatly from ADAC support during his rapid rise in motorsport.
“With the ‘Road to DTM’, ADAC has created a development program that leads from karting to the DTM. In my room, the trophies from the ADAC Kart Masters, the ADAC GT Masters, and my first DTM podium stand,” says the Ford driver.
“You can clearly see my path from that. After my success in the ADAC Kart Masters, I got the chance to enter formula racing. Later, I chose GT racing and was able to recommend myself for the DTM through the ADAC GT Masters with the title and as ‘Road to DTM’ winner.”
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Wiebelhaus on Timo Glock: From DTM idol to rival
“I am proud to be able to show young drivers on the kart tracks where the path can lead,” says Wiebelhaus, who admired his great role models from a distance until a few years ago. “In the DTM, I mainly followed Rene Rast.”
“He uploaded many onboard recordings on YouTube back then and explained what he was doing in the car. I found that extremely interesting. Racing today against drivers like Timo Glock is of course special. We get along well and he always has a funny comment ready.”
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How quickly times change is shown by a simple comparison: “When Timo was in Formula 1, I wasn’t even karting yet,” Wiebelhaus recalls, noting that Glock raced his last Formula 1 season in 2012 before starting in the DTM for BMW in 2013.
DTM rookie Finn Wiebelhaus reveals his biggest goal
Meanwhile, Wiebelhaus is even clearly ahead of the former Formula 1 driver in the overall DTM standings. But that is not his biggest ambition. “My biggest goal is to win the rookie classification,” reveals the HRT driver, who has to assert himself against Nicolas Baert (Comtoyou Aston Martin) and Tom Kalender (Landgraf Mercedes).
Both drivers are already in their second DTM season but are considered in the rookie classification by special application. Matteo Cairoli (Emil Frey Ferrari), Bastian Buus (Land Porsche), and Marco Mapelli (Abt Lamborghini), on the other hand, are in their debut season but no longer count as rookies due to their FIA platinum rating.
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“One or two more podiums would of course also be nice,” adds Wiebelhaus, who is even aiming for his first race win after his success at the Norisring. “But the DTM is a tough field. There can also be two or three difficult weekends. That comes with it.”
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