Breaking news
DTM
Scheider calls for changes at BMW after 'catastrophic' start
Timo Scheider has urged BMW to make changes to its organisation after what he described as a 'catastrophic' start to its DTM campaign in 2020.
Rachit Thukral Sven Haidinger
Published: Aug 12, 2020, 3:08 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
BMW was outshone by Audi in the opening round of the season at Spa Francorchamps earlier this month, with the Munich-based manufacturer’s six factory-run M4 cars failing to finish inside the top five in either race.
It followed a 2019 season in which BMW was closer to Audi's performance but couldn’t prevent the latter from completing a clean sweep of drivers’, teams’ and manufacturers’ titles.
Two-time DTM champion Scheider suggests there are shortcomings within BMW’s DTM team that it must address if it is to recoup lost ground against Audi, citing the example of changes Ferrari has had to make after its own struggles in Formula 1.
"This huge gap [to Audi] is a real catastrophe for BMW,” Scheider, who won both his DTM titles with Audi, told Motorsport.com.
"It's a complete disaster when people like Timo Glock and Marco Wittmann, who competed for the title last year, finish somewhere between 10th and 13th place.
“They are realistic enough to know that they won't come to the Lausitzring and win now. A miracle would have to happen for that.
“There's always talk of replacing a driver when it doesn't work. But it also means that people in certain positions [at the team] have to do their job 100 percent.
“And here, too, it may have to be questioned at some point whether the right people are at the helm. If the performance is not right, you have to react. At BMW, just like at Ferrari, you have to question everything internally.”
Read Also:
- Audi was in a "different world" to BMW at Spa
- DTM to probe Rast over illegal P2P use at Spa
- BMW warns against DTM switching to GT3 cars
Audi drivers have suggested that BMW’s poor showing at Spa was track-specific - and that they expect the Bavarian brand to return stronger for this weekend’s Lausitzring round.
However, Scheider feels that BMW faces a big challenge to close the gap to Audi in both single-lap pace and race trim - and questioned whether BMW would be willing to invest a substantial sum of money when the DTM is on the verge of abandoning the Class One platform.
"You now have to find a solution for the individual laps and for the [race] distance," said Scheider. "The fact is, they have to make up a lot of ground, they have to be faster. And to do that, they have to choose a more aggressive set-up and [risk] having more crashes. But that will eat up more tyres again.
"It's going to be very difficult to get a grip on this again because you need money for it. They're not building a new car now.
“The question is, is there even extra budget to iron out things that should have been ironed out long ago? Or do you still want to, when you know that at least these cars won't go on [beyond the end of the 2020 season]?"
Asked if there is a possibility that Audi could win every single race of the nine-round DTM season, Scheider said: "There will certainly be races where BMW looks a bit better. But I can't say when they'll be ready to win again.
“The way things look now, you'd have to be between three and four tenths behind on a normal track length in relation to the individual laps. And at that distance that's a big question mark. At the moment I don't see much light at the end of the tunnel at BMW."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rast: Muller a more formidable opponent this year
Next article Duval: Audi open to letting me skip DTM races
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Rachit Thukral
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
17 h
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
MotoGP
MotoGP
Indonesian GP
18 h
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
5 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
9 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 10 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
11 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe