Reigning GT Masters champion Tom Kalender will make history as the youngest-ever DTM driver when he takes the grid for the 2025 season opener at Oschersleben.
The 16-year-old has been signed by Mercedes to race for the returning Landgraf team in DTM. Kalender set the age record in GT Masters last year when he claimed the overall title alongside Finnish driver Elias Seppanen. At just 17 years and 30 days old when the season begins, Kalender will break the long-standing record held by current Porsche Formula E driver Pascal Wehrlein.
Joining Kalender at Landgraf will be Lucas Auer, who is entering his 10th season in DTM and his ninth with Mercedes. While Landgraf was part of Mercedes’ DTM lineup in 2023, the team is better known for its achievements in GT Masters, a series governed by Germany’s ADAC. The team’s 2024 triumph with Kalender and Seppanen marked their third consecutive title in GT Masters.
In another DTM move, two-time Spa 24 Hours winner Jules Gounon will join Winward Racing, partnering Maro Engel, a winner at both Nurburgring and Macau. Gounon, 30, made his DTM debut last year at Hockenheim as a stand-in for the sick Luca Stolz, and he will now compete in the full 2025 season in a Mercedes AMG GT3 entered by Winward.
Gounon’s DTM commitments will be alongside his drive in the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship, where he will race for the factory Alpine team, alongside Frederic Makowiecki and Mick Schumacher.
Gounon and Kalender replace Luca Stolz and Arjun Maini in Mercedes’ four-car lineup. Stolz, who was initially set to debut in the LMGT3 class of the World Endurance Championship with Iron Lynx, is now expected to race in the GT World Challenge Europe. Maini has departed Mercedes to join Ford and may be part of HRT’s anticipated two-car entry with the Mustang GT3.
Hubert Haupt’s HRT team, once a Mercedes customer, has switched allegiance to Ford, which is expanding its GT3 program in Europe.