His was the most well-known name among the newcomers to the ADAC GT Masters in 2019 – Fabian Vettel (20, GER, Mann-Filter Team HTP), younger brother of four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel (31, GER), was sharing the cockpit of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Philip Ellis (26, GB). The first season in the ADAC GT Masters convinced Vettel right from the start: “It is a mega competitive and professional series. If you can prove yourself here, you can succeed in GT3 racing anywhere.”

For Mercedes-AMG, last year’s ADAC GT Masters season could hardly have been more thrilling: while MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport sealed the teams’ title in the penultimate race of the season, the drivers’ title was lost due to innocently becoming involved in a collision in the final race. This year, the motivation to achieve the double with drivers’ and teams’ title is all the bigger. The last time this could be achieved was in 2012 and Maximilian Götz was already involved at the time. The Mercedes-AMG Driver, who came close to winning the drivers’ title last year, will be racing together with a new partner behind the wheel this year: Indy Dontje will be alternating with Götz in the #47 MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3. In 2018, Dontje ended up fifth in the ADAC GT Masters.