The leader of the DTM Maro Engel Championship handed the trophy to Lando Norris
Maro Engel had a special task in Zandvoort on Saturday at Formula 1 weekend: The champion of the championship gave the prize to the Formula 1 driver to Land Norris.
The British had previously taken the fastest lap in qualifying for the Grand Prize of the Netherlands. Engel was the first DTM driver to have the honor of passing on Formula 1 to the winner.
The prize was passed to the winner of Formula 1 qualification. "It was a special honor for me to present the Pirelli Pole Position Award to Land Norris. The initiative came from DTM. As the current leader of the DTM Championship, I was given the opportunity to take up this special task, which of course pleased me very much. Pirelli is also a partner of DTM for tyres, and I think it's great that in this way the connection between DTM and Formula 1 can be established. It also shows how valuable such partnerships are and what special opportunities can emerge from them. For me it was definitely a great moment to be on the other side here in Zandvoort," said Engel after the award was handed over in Zandvoort, where he himself won the DTM race in 2023. For Mercedes-AMG riders, the action on Formula 1 on the Dutch North Sea coast was welcomed by a change in pace before the fight for the title of DTM entered a decisive stage.
In three weeks, Engel will be heading to Sachsenring (September 11-13) for the second-to-last round of DTM. The 40-year-old rider has only a point head on the Porsche Thomas Preining factory driver and has four races left. The title will be decided in October at the final race of the season at Hockenheimer.
Norris not only won the field position, but then won the Sunday Grand Prix.