Berger very happy with Mateschitz and Marko: 'Am very grateful to them'

The DTM has been given a new lease of life with Red Bull joining forces with Ferrari, and chief executive Gerhard Berger is delighted. With Audi and BMW pulling out, there was little left of the championship, so Berger has pulled out all the stops to keep it alive. He is very grateful to Dietrich Mateschitz (Red Bull owner) and others for this success.

Good progress

Berger said in a conversation with Laola1.at. "We are on the right track and we are on schedule", about the commitment of Mercedes who announced to support customer teams in the championship. Just like other manufacturers do and with that the grid will still be filled.

"I can count on teams with Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Ferrari and McLaren. And Lamborghini is still possible. Japanese will probably not be there." Nonetheless, the current state of affairs is positive and Berger argues that the intended targets are realistic to achieve.

Contributing to this is the participation of Red Bull who are deploying Alexander Albon and Liam Lawson, among others, in a Ferrari. "I am very grateful to Didi Mateschitz, Helmut Marko and Thomas Überall for that. The fact that Red Bull and Ferrari have come together is particularly gratifying for me. After all, it didn't work out in Formula 1..."

Uncertain time

Although the grid is slowly but surely taking shape, there is still an unpredictable factor in the whole story and that is of course the coronavirus pandemic. "Everyone is unsettled anyway. Sponsors don't want to and can't commit when they don't even know if they're going to be able to get their way. Nobody knows the economic future."

"Also, we don't know if we can plan with spectators and if so, to what extent and under what conditions? We hope to get clarity on that in the spring." Despite this uncertainty, Berger is continuing to work hard to make things happen and to give the class a future.