Mercedes has partially confirmed its driver line-up for its final season in DTM this year.
Mercedes, a staple of the championship for decades, will withdraw at the end of the campaign, with its focus switching to Formula E, ahead of its 2019/20 entry.
Mercedes announced on Wednesday that Gary Paffett, Paul di Resta, Edoardo Mortara and Lucas Auer will all return to contest the 2018 campaign.
Paffett has been a mainstay of DTM with Mercedes since 2003 and claimed the 2005 title, while 2010 champion di Resta returned to the series after his three-year spell in Formula 1 with Force India.
Mortara joined Mercedes from Audi for 2017, though it has not yet been determined whether he will compete in DTM or Formula E during the two clashing rounds.
Mortara signed for Venturi for the 2017/18 Formula E season, with the team having formed a partnership with Mercedes specialist HWA, as the manufacturer ramps up its involvement in the category prior to its entry.
Auer, meanwhile, was the highest-placing Mercedes driver in 2017 as he led the standings early on before slipping to sixth overall.
Mercedes has not won the Drivers’ title since 2015, when Pascal Wehrlein triumphed, and the German has been tipped to return after failing to find a 2018 F1 seat.
Robert Wickens and Maro Engel have both departed Mercedes’ DTM roster, with the former moving to IndyCar with Schmidt Peterson and the latter opting to focus on Formula E and GT3 duties.
Mercedes will announce the identity of its final two drivers “in the very near future”.






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