Ferrari was a front-running manufacturer in the first two years of the DTM’s GT3 era in 2021-22, with the factory-supported and Red Bull-branded AF Corse squad even challenging for the title with Liam Lawson in ‘21. However, with AF Corse leaving and being replaced by Emil Frey as Ferrari’s sole representative in the DTM, and the ageing 488 GT3 also making way for the new 296 GT3, results were proving to be much harder to achieve in 2023.
The Emil Frey/Ferrari partnership did get off to a strong note at Oschersleben with Aitken qualifying on the front row on debut and then finishing third in the race, but that had started to seem like a false dawn as errors and inconsistency prevented the team from contending for a podium again.
