Mercedes AMG has announced that they will enter just six cars in the 2017 DTM, with HWA AG running all six cars in the championship, with Mücke Motorsport and ART no longer part of their programme.

The manufacturer made the announcement through their Facebook page, effectively confirming the downsizing from eight to six cars for next year.

“Now that it has finally been decided that the manufacturers will race with six cars in the 2017 DTM, we have investigated different implementation scenarios for our team,” said Ulrich Fritz, Head of DTM at Mercedes AMG. “Ultimately, we have decided that HWA will use all six vehicles in the coming season in a centralised manner.”

Fritz had words of acknowledgement for Peter Mücke, whose team achieved their only victory in the series this year with Lucas Auer at the Lausitzring.

“Peter Mücke and his team have been a loyal partner of our programme since 2005. If you can see how the whole Mercedes-AMG DTM team at the Lausitzring was happy about the first Mücke victory, then you know how much the appreciation is for Mücke Motorsport. This is why we are very pleased that the cooperation between Mercedes-AMG and Mücke Motorsport will continue in various areas such as Formula 3.”

ART are also leaving the DTM after just two years, with visited the podium five times. Whether the French team will continue to be involved with Mercedes hasn’t been confirmed. “ART GP has done an incredible job over the past two years, without any experience in the DTM from the very beginning,” concluded Fritz.