All three drivers will race for the expanded Schubert Motorsport team, a departure from BMW’s previous philosophy of splitting its DTM attack across two separate outfits.
BMW reasoned that by consolidating its entire line-up in a single team it will be able to pool its strengths and “create optimal conditions” to fight for the title again.
Van der Linde and Rast were both part of Schubert’s driver crew last year, while Wittmann has moved across from the now-defunct Project 1 outfit to create a larger three-car team.
Two-time champion Wittmann had long called for “equal conditions” across BMW’s DTM camp, having felt that he didn’t get as many opportunities to test the car outside of race weekends as fellow champions van der Linde and Rast.
Schubert is one of the top GT3 teams in the DTM and has conducted an extensive number of private tests since it first joined the series in 2022.
In fact, a comprehensive testing programme with the then-new BMW M4 GT3 was a key to the team scoring the title in its debut season with van der Linde.
“The DTM continues to play a very important role in our extensive racing programme for the 2024 season,” said BMW’s motorsport boss Andreas Roos.
“We underline our commitment with a top-class line-up that boasts a total of seven DTM titles: one team title for Schubert Motorsport, three drivers’ titles for René Rast, two drivers’ titles for Marco Wittmann, and one drivers’ title for Sheldon van der Linde.
“By concentrating our BMW M works drivers on one team, we are pooling our strengths and creating optimal conditions to be able to play an important role in the title fight again.”
Although BMW wasn’t able to replicate the success it enjoyed in 2022 last year, the Bavarian marque regularly fought at the front with the Schubert team, with van der Linde and Rast finishing inside the top five in the championship with one victory each.
Wittmann, however, failed to muster a podium finish for only the first time in his 11-year stint in the DTM, ending up a distant 13th in the standings.
Project 1 also fielded a second example of the M4 GT3 in five out of the eight rounds for Sandro Holzem, but the teenager race could break inside the points-scoring positions only once in 10 attempts.
As things stand, there will be only three M4s on the DTM grid this year, with BMW electing against running any non-factory drivers at its sole remaining Schubert team.
