Peter Mücke: “We make professional racing drivers”

• Mücke Motorsport in the ADAC Formula 4: “Training drivers for higher race categories”
• Team Principal: “It’s not just about championship titles, it’s about developing”
• Positive outcome to season: “2016 was an excellent year”

Peter Mücke’s mobile phone is never silent for long these days. No wonder, after all, he’s in the middle of planning for the upcoming motor racing season. There’s so much to discuss and arrange, and of course, the ADAC Formula 4 has its place in the concept behind the Brandenburg-based racing outfit. The team will field four drivers for the third season of the ADAC High Speed Academy. According to Mücke, winning the championship is secondary, the main focus is on the drivers’ personal development.

“We always take the training route. We don’t just want to contest the year with a driver but give him a profound training that will prepare him for higher things,” says Peter Mücke, who has been an integral part of the ADAC’s various series for juniors for nearly twenty years. We make professional racing drivers, which is a never-ending process.”

The racing outfit’s successful concept has been practised for years with many drivers finding their way into Formula 1 through Mücke. Sebastian Vettel, who is now the patron of the ADAC Formula 4 and a four-time Formula 1 world champion, used to drive under the team colours of Peter Mücke. In 2004, Vettel won the Formula BMW ADAC championship title, finishing first in 18 of 20 season races. The last driver to manage to make the move up into the top class of the sport was Pascal Wehrlein after first becoming DTM champion, but Formula E champions Sébastian Buemi, Sergio Perez, Robert Kubica and Markus Winkelhock also used to drive for Mücke.

The ADAC Formula 4 offers the ideal introduction to single-seater motor racing in Mücke’s eyes. The standard is high and the environment extremely professional. Mücke has a great deal of experience and is much in demand as a mentor in the series and as someone to lend support. “I’ve been a driver myself for many years and actually still am. It’s where my motivation to pass on my knowledge and everything I’ve learned comes from. That’s our philosophy – but it doesn’t just stem from me. We also have a lot of excellent engineers in the team, who also share my way of thinking,” says the 70-year-old, who has the backing of some 50 dedicated employees.

Mücke sets great store on having a Plan B: “You must be really keen to do both“

Mücke is not concerned about personal gain in any of this. The team boss’s job has been a life-long passion: “It’s all to do with racing. You don’t do this because you want to make money. When I see those young lads, see them slaving through the night, it’s not the money that drives me on but passion. I’m always there, you know, whether it’s testing or racing. I’m familiar with all the data and reports concerning my drivers, know their preferences, their strengths and weaknesses,” says Mücke, who thinks it important for his drivers to also have a Plan B’. “I think it’s wrong to say in complete isolation, I’m going to be a racing driver and then do only that. To put it crudely, you’ll never be quick if you’re a pillock. If you want to be a racing driver, you just have to work harder, and that’s why you need a Plan B. You must be really keen to do both.”

In 2016, Mücke Motorsport finished third in the ADAC Formula 4 team rankings and also produced the third-best driver overall with Mike David Ortmann (17, Germany). Lirim Zendeli (17, Germany) also attracted attention in his rookie year with some good finishes. The two of them continued to make progress, particularly in the second half of the season. For Peter Mücke, a clear sign that his plans are bearing fruit. “We had an excellent second year with Mike and a brilliant first one with Lirim,” he says. “What counts most is, have the guys learned anything and did they make progress? I would say that we succeeded on both counts this year.”

Mücke is not prepared to say a great deal at this stage about the composition of the Formula 4 team which will be lining up for its third season in the ADAC High Speed Academy under the banner of the ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. He did, however, say this much: “We will field four cars, as we did last year, and also contest the Italian Formula 4 championship. I’m only interested in the driver, regardless of the name. Where he comes from matters not a jot. My only wish at the end of the year is that we’ve made progress with him.”

Mücke about Ortmann: “Mike is ready for the next class up”

Ortmann, who will continue driving for Mücke Motorsport this year, is ready in his opinion. However, it’s still not yet clear in which class the ADAC Sports Foundation protégé will be lining up in future. “He’s ready for the next class up,” said Peter Mücke, “When you’ve been around the block as many times as me, you get an eye for whether a driver can hack it in the next class up, or whether you tell him to stay in the same race category for another year. There’s no key to knowing what’s right, no timetable.”

And that’s why Mücke is putting a dampener on the expectations of the four young motor racing talents with whom he will start the season on 28th April in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. “The goal is always to give the driver the most you can, to do as much as you can. Of course, you want to compete up front,” says Peter Mücke. “But I never tell a driver that we have to become champions. Teaching drivers as much as possible, that’s what it all boils down to. The results are secondary.”

2017 ADAC Formula 4 Calendar

28/04/17 - 30/04/17 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
19/05/17 - 21/05/17 Motorsport Festival Lausitzring (together with the DTM)
09/06/17 - 11/06/17 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria
07/07/17 - 09/07/17 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
04/08/17 - 06/08/17 Nürburgring
15/09/17 - 17/09/17 Sachsenring
22/09/17 - 24/09/17 Hockenheimring