# Christian Vietoris

Christian Vietoris (/viːˈtɔːrɪs/ vee-TOR-iss, German:; born 1 April 1989) is a former German racing driver. He competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, most recently for HWA Team. Vietoris has also been 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.

## 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

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. 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 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.

## 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.

## Racing record
### Career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 2005 | Formula BMW ADAC | Eifelland Racing | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 16th |
| 2006 | Formula BMW ADAC | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 18 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 16 | 277 | 1st |
| 2007 | German Formula 3 Championship | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 62 | 6th |
| 2008 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Mücke Motorsport | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 36 | 6th |
| 2009 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Mücke Motorsport | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 75 | 2nd |
| 2009–10 | GP2 Asia Series | DAMS | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 10th |
| 2010 | GP2 Series | Racing Engineering | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 9th |
| 2011 | GP2 Series | Racing Engineering | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 35 | 7th |
| 2011 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Persson Motorsport | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14th |
| 2012 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA Team | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 12th |
| 2013 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA Team | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 71 | 4th |
| 2014 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA Team | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 69 | 4th |
| 2015 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA AG | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 16th |
| 2015 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | Team Zakspeed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 2016 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Mercedes-Benz DTM Team Mücke | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 60 | 14th |
| 2016 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | AMG-Team HTP Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| 2018 | Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup | Strakka Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 41st |
| 2018 | Intercontinental GT Challenge | Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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 | Germany | 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.