Christian Vietoris

Christian Vietoris (/vˈtɔːrɪs/; German: [viːˈtoːʀɪs]; born 1 April 1989) is a German racing driver, currently driving in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for HWA Team.[1] Vietoris is also a part of the revitalized Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, together with Robert Wickens and Roberto Merhi. Vietoris made his debut in the DTM in 2011, driving for Persson Motorsport, before being promoted to HWA for the 2012 DTM season.

Christian Vietoris
Vietoris in 2007
Nationality German
Born (1989-04-01) 1 April 1989
Gerolstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany
DTM career
Debut season2011
Current teamMercedes-Benz DTM Team Mücke
Car number8
Former teamsHWA AG, Persson Motorsport
Starts76
Wins1
Poles3
Fastest laps2
Best finish4th in 2013, 2014
Finished last season14th (60 pts)
Previous series
2010
2009–10
200809
2007
2006–07
200506
GP2 Series
GP2 Asia Series
Formula Three Euroseries
German Formula Three
A1 Grand Prix
Formula BMW ADAC
Championship titles
2006–07
2006
A1 Grand Prix (w/Hülkenberg)
Formula BMW ADAC

Career

Karting

Vietoris started his career through karting, the most common entry point for all racing drivers, in 1994. Nine years after starting his karting career, the young German was the national Junior Kart champion and a year later came second Western German Karting Championship.

Formula BMW

In 2005, Vietoris moved up to Formula BMW ADAC with Eifelland Racing. Vietoris finished his first FBMW campaign sixteenth in the Drivers' Championship with fifteen points, sharing his position with fellow German Dominik Wasem. In 2006, Vietoris moved to Josef Kaufmann Racing, where he won the Drivers' Championship with 277 points and taking nine race wins, his nearest rival being Finland's Mika Mäki. As well as his German FBMW title, Vietoris won the Formula BMW World Final, ahead of other FBMW champions such as Robert Wickens, the 2006 US FBMW champion, and the British Formula BMW champion, Niall Breen, winning himself a test for the BMW Sauber F1 team.

Following his impressive performances in Formula BMW, Vietoris was picked by A1 Team Germany to replace Nico Hülkenberg for the Mexican round of the 2006–07 season.

Formula Three

Vietoris competing at the opening round of the 2008 Formula Three Euroseries season at Hockenheim.

In 2007, Vietoris competed in the ATS Formel 3 Cup for Josef Kaufmann Racing, finishing in fifth. He moved on to the Formula Three Euroseries in 2008 for Mücke Motorsport. He had a solid season, ending up eighth in the championship with one win coming at the Norisring. He set a pair of fastest laps – at Mugello and Brands Hatch – and was on pole at the Nürburgring.

He continued in the F3 Euroseries in 2009 with Mücke Motorsport, finishing as runner-up to the dominant Jules Bianchi. Vietoris won four races over the course of the season, adding a further four podiums and a fastest lap at Brands once again, as he helped keep Mücke in contention for the teams title until he left for GP2 Asia.

GP2 Series

Vietoris missed the final round of the F3 Euroseries season to join up with the DAMS team for a GP2 Asia Series test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. He raced in the 2009–10 season for the team. He moved to Racing Engineering for the 2010 main series, winning one race en route to ninth place in the drivers' championship. He missed the final round of the season due to appendicitis; his seat was taken by Ho-Pin Tung.

Vietoris remains with Racing Engineering for the 2011 GP2 Series season, alongside Dani Clos. After crashing heavily during the first round of the season at Istanbul, he complained of recurring headaches and was replaced by Álvaro Parente until he recovered and returned to the cockpit in Valencia.[2] At Spa-Francorchamps, he took his first series pole position and converted it into victory, also setting his first fastest lap in the process. He also won the sprint race finale at Monza, rising to seventh in the drivers' championship.

DTM

Vietoris driving for the HWA Team at Hungaroring during the 2014 DTM season

Vietoris made his debut in the DTM, dovetailing his 2011 GP2 campaign with a season driving a Persson Motorsport Mercedes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. His best result as a rookie was a 5th place at Oschersleben. Another highlight was reaching the semi-final at the non-points Showevent at the Olympic Stadium in München.

On 3 April 2012 Mercedes announced the revival of the Mercedes-Benz Junior Team that has guided several notable drivers in their racing careers like Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Karl Wendlinger and Michael Schumacher. With that announcement came the news that Vietoris, together with the reigning Formula 3 Euroseries champion Roberto Merhi and the reigning Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion Robert Wickens, would become a part of the new Junior Team and that the three of them would drive for the Junior Team in the 2012 DTM season.

7-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher was to be involved with the three drivers by serving as a mentor. Driving under the Junior Team-moniker meant for Vietoris that he would switch teams for his sophomore season in the DTM, trading in his place at Persson Motorsport for the elite team of Mercedes in the DTM, HWA Team, replacing Bruno Spengler, who left Mercedes for BMW.[3]

Records

Vietoris is the youngest driver ever to win an A1 Grand Prix race. He took the chequered flag during the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand at Taupo Motorsport Park at just 18 years, nine months and 19 days old, beating the previous record for youngest A1GP winner by exactly five months. That record was held by the team's former driver, Nico Hülkenberg, who won on his debut at Zandvoort in 2006.[4]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Position
2005 Formula BMW ADAC Eifelland Racing 19 0 0 17 16th
2006 Formula BMW ADAC Josef Kaufmann Racing 18 9 9 277 1st
2007 German Formula 3 Championship Josef Kaufmann Racing 12 2 1 62 6th
2008 Formula 3 Euro Series Mücke Motorsport 20 1 1 36 6th
2009 Formula 3 Euro Series Mücke Motorsport 18 0 4 75 2nd
2009–10 GP2 Asia Series DAMS 8 0 1 9 10th
2010 GP2 Series Racing Engineering 18 0 1 29 9th
2011 GP2 Series Racing Engineering 14 1 2 35 7th
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Persson Motorsport 10 0 0 4 14th
2012 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters HWA Team 10 0 0 25 12th
2013 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters HWA Team 10 1 0 71 4th
2014 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters HWA Team 10 0 1 69 4th
2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters HWA AG 18 1 0 56 16th
2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Mercedes-Benz DTM Team Mücke 18 1 0 60 14th
2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Strakka Racing 2 0 0 6 41st
Intercontinental GT Challenge Mercedes-AMG 1 0 0 4 23rd

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2008 Mücke Motorsport Dallara F308/050 Mercedes HOC
1

7
HOC
2

2
MUG
1

28†
MUG
2

19
PAU
1

5
PAU
2

4
NOR
1

6
NOR
2

1
ZAN
1

13
ZAN
2

11
NÜR
1

Ret
NÜR
2

Ret
BRH
1

5
BRH
2

Ret
CAT
1

3
CAT
2

2
BUG
1

28†
BUG
2

10
HOC
1

EX
HOC
2

Ret
6th 36
2009 Mücke Motorsport Dallara F308/050 Mercedes HOC
1

7
HOC
2

2
LAU
1

8
LAU
2

1
NOR
1

6
NOR
2

1
ZAN
1

3
ZAN
2

4
OSC
1

4
OSC
2

1
NÜR
1

8
NÜR
2

2
BRH
1

3
BRH
2

4
CAT
1

6
CAT
2

4
DIJ
1

1
DIJ
2

6
HOC
1
HOC
2
2nd 75

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2006–07 Germany NED
SPR
NED
FEA
CZE
SPR
CZE
FEA
CHN
SPR
CHN
FEA
MYS
SPR
MYS
FEA
IDN
SPR
IDN
FEA
NZL
SPR
NZL
FEA
AUS
SPR
AUS
FEA
RSA
SPR
RSA
FEA
MEX
SPR
Ret
MEX
FEA
9
CHN
SPR
CHN
FEA
GBR
SPR
GBR
SPR
1st 128
2007–08 NED
SPR
6
NED
FEA
9
CZE
SPR
7
CZE
FEA
8
MYS
SPR
MYS
FEA
ZHU
SPR
ZHU
FEA
NZL
SPR

2
NZL
FEA
1
AUS
SPR
AUS
FEA
RSA
SPR
RSA
FEA
MEX
SPR
MEX
FEA
SHA
SPR
SHA
FEA
GBR
SPR
GBR
SPR
8th 83

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2010 Racing Engineering CAT
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

18
MON
FEA

14
MON
SPR

DNS
IST
FEA

7
IST
SPR

Ret
VAL
FEA

12
VAL
SPR

Ret
SIL
FEA

6
SIL
SPR

10
HOC
FEA

Ret
HOC
SPR

10
HUN
FEA

2
HUN
SPR

2
SPA
FEA

11
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

4
MNZ
SPR

1
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
9th 29
2011 Racing Engineering IST
FEA

11
IST
SPR

Ret
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

13
SIL
FEA

2
SIL
SPR

Ret
NÜR
FEA

Ret
NÜR
SPR

4
HUN
FEA

8
HUN
SPR

10
SPA
FEA

1
SPA
SPR

13
MNZ
FEA

6
MNZ
SPR

1
7th 35

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2009–10 DAMS YMC1
FEA

6
YMC1
SPR

1
YMC2
FEA

Ret
YMC2
SPR

14
BHR1
FEA

14
BHR1
SPR

9
BHR2
FEA

Ret
BHR2
SPR

14
10th 9

Complete DTM results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

 Year  Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18  Pos   Points 
2011 Persson Motorsport AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008 HOC
13
ZAN
15
SPL
15
LAU
9
NOR
11
NÜR
13
BRH
13
OSC
5
VAL
12
HOC
Ret
14th 4
2012 HWA Team DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé HOC
4
LAU
11
BRH
6
SPL
Ret
NOR
8
NÜR
16
ZAN
Ret
OSC
12
VAL
12
HOC
10
12th 25
2013 HWA Team DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé HOC
3
BRH
8
SPL
7
LAU
3
NOR
3
MSC
10
NÜR
3
OSC
18
ZAN
15
HOC
7
4th 77
2014 HWA Team DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé HOC
15
OSC
1
HUN
20†
NOR
21†
MSC
7
SPL
9
NÜR
6
LAU
2
ZAN
5
HOC
14
4th 69
2015 HWA AG DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé HOC
1

14
HOC
2

11
LAU
1

17
LAU
2

7
NOR
1

4
NOR
2

2
ZAN
1

12
ZAN
2

8
SPL
1

4
SPL
2

8
MSC
1

Ret
MSC
2

20
OSC
1

18
OSC
2

21
NÜR
1

15
NÜR
2

14
HOC
1

12
HOC
2

Ret
16th 56
2016 Mercedes-Benz DTM Team Mücke Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM HOC
1

5
HOC
2

14
SPL
1

Ret
SPL
2

17
LAU
1

5
LAU
2

7
NOR
1

10
NOR
2

15
ZAN
1

3
ZAN
2

20†
MSC
1

23
MSC
2

14
NÜR
1

13
NÜR
2

17
HUN
1

17
HUN
2

14
HOC
1

22
HOC
2

2
14th 60

Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 75% of the winner's race distance.

References

  1. "Mercedes-Benz Junior Team: Bringing on new talent in the DTM". Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. 3 April 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  2. O'Leary, Jamie (19 May 2011). "Vietoris to miss Barcelona". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  3. "Mercedes-Benz Junior Team: Back for 2012!". Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  4. "Record Breakers". A1GP.com News. 21 January 2008. Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Nico Hülkenberg
Formula BMW ADAC
Champion

2006
Succeeded by
Jens Klingmann
Preceded by
Marco Holzer
Formula BMW World Final
Winner

2006
Succeeded by
Philipp Eng
Preceded by
Nicolas Lapierre
Alexandre Prémat
(Team France)
A1 Grand Prix
Champion with
Nico Hülkenberg
(Team Germany)

2006–07
Succeeded by
Neel Jani
(Team Switzerland)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.