Mercedes customer Haupt Racing Team has denied rumours about a possible exit from the DTM in 2025, saying it is operating profitably.
Speculation about the future of HRT has been rife in the paddock, with many suggesting that it could withdraw from the championship at the end of the season.
An increasing number of HRT employees are believed to have applied for jobs at other teams, while rumour mill has also pointed to HRT managing director Ulrich Fritz being considered for the top role at the newly-founded Affalterbach Racing GmbH division, which will handle Mercedes’ customer racing activities in the future.
All of this has to do with the financing of the squad, as for the last 30 years owner Hubert Haupt has been involved in the real estate business, which is currently in the midst of a crisis.
A potential exit for HRT would be a big blow for the DTM, as the series has already witnessed a decline in entries to 20 cars this year. HRT has also been an important part of the series’ GT3 era, having won the championship in 2021 with Mercedes driver Maximilian Gotz.
However, Haupt has made it clear that there is no substance behind the rumours questioning the future of HRT, insisting his team will remain in the DTM in 2025.
“We have a contract that expires for the DTM, but we will 99% be racing in the DTM next year,” he told Autosport’s sister title Motorsport-Total.com.
“We will stay in the DTM. We will definitely stay in the ADAC GT Masters, we will definitely stay at the Nurburgring [Endurance Series].”
Asked what is preventing him from being 100% sure about continuing in the DTM, he said: “If, for example, AMG says you are far too expensive and someone else offers us three million more, then we will no longer drive DTM with AMG. Then we'll have to look for someone else.”
However, he insists he will “definitely” stay with the Stuttgart-based brand in 2025 “if Mercedes-AMG treats us well and offers us a good contract.”
Haupt also revealed that the HRT team is financially independent of him and even made a profit in 2023. This was his goal when he founded the team in 2020 after taking over the GT3 operations of Black Falcon.
“There are very few racing teams that make money,’ he said. “Most of them really put a lot of money into it or have patrons who put the money in.
“We managed to make a good profit last year by motorsport standards. It will make an even better profit this year than last year. That is also the target: The company must be able to live independently of me.”
Haupt is believed to have sold a number of his assets recently, including his Munich villa, a private jet, a yacht and a part of his private collection including a Formula 1 car, to move to his new residence in Monaco.
His team HRT also shifted to a brand new facility in Drees, not far from the Nurburgring, over a year ago. A large part of the property was recently sold, which also led to rumours that the team wanted to get rid of its well-equipped workshop.
However, Haupt has rubbished such claims, claiming that the sale only concerned the underdeveloped parts of the land.
“The HRT building has not been sold. It will remain in our portfolio for the long term and is financed for the long term to counteract any rumours,” he said. “We earned our money in property development because we bought it really cheaply at the time.”
Haupt admitted that a number of employees have indeed left the team, but believes that is not a good reason to draw any conclusions about the future of the team.
“There are always some leaving,” he said. “There are always employees who are dissatisfied and say: ‘I imagined everything to be completely different’. We have that every year.”
However, he ruled out managing director and former HRT boss Fritz leaving the team to join Mercedes’ new Affalterbach Racing division, saying “Uli Fritz will stay with us 100%. I believe he has a good future and good prospects here.”
