Wittmann began karting at the age of six and claimed the 2004 German Junior Karting Championship. He made his car racing debut in 2007 with Josef Kaufmann Racing in the Formula BMW ADAC series, winning two races and finishing fifth in the standings. In 2008, the team moved into the newly-formed Formula BMW Europe, where Wittmann scored eleven podiums including one victory but finished second in the championship behind teammate Esteban Gutiérrez.
In 2009, Wittmann progressed to the Formula 3 Euro Series with Mücke Motorsport, struggling throughout and finishing sixteenth in the standings. He switched to Signature in 2010, where a double podium at the opening round was followed by a win at Hockenheim; he finished the year second overall with ten podiums across eighteen races, also taking third at the Masters of Formula 3 and fourth on his Macau Grand Prix debut.
In 2013, back with Signature in the Euro Series, Wittmann scored thirteen podiums and five wins including victories at the Pau Grand Prix and two at the Norisring. Despite these results he finished second overall, beaten by Roberto Merhi driving for Prema Powerteam. He also finished second at the Masters of F3 that year and claimed pole for the Macau Grand Prix before finishing third.
Wittmann conducted multiple DTM tests for BMW at the end of 2011 and was signed as the marque's official test driver for 2012, also contesting endurance events in GT3 machinery including a ninth-place finish at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.
His DTM debut came in 2013 with Team MTEK in a BMW M3 DTM. He scored points in his first two starts, finished second at the Red Bull Ring, took pole at Zandvoort, and ended the season eighth in points as the highest-placed rookie.
In 2014, Wittmann joined Team RMG and opened with a win at Hockenheim. After an off in the rain at Oschersleben, he dominated at the Hungaroring to retake the championship lead. Further wins at Spielberg and the Nürburgring consolidated his position and he clinched the title at the third-to-last event with a sixth-place finish, ending the year fifty points ahead of runner-up Mattias Ekström.
Returning to Team RMG in 2015 alongside Maxime Martin, Wittmann won at Zandvoort and added podiums at Moscow and Oschersleben but finished sixth overall. During the summer he tested the Toro Rosso STR10 Formula One car at the Red Bull Ring, earning praise from race engineer Phil Charles for his technical feedback, cleanness, and long-run rhythm.
The 2016 season brought a second DTM title. Wittmann won from pole at Spielberg, then took controlling victories at Moscow and the Nürburgring. A disqualification for a technical infringement in Hungary trimmed his lead over Edoardo Mortara to fourteen points, but Wittmann secured the championship at the Hockenheim finale by finishing fourth.
In 2017, a car-related retirement at the Hungaroring with two laps remaining typified a difficult start to the year. Wittmann recovered to score four podiums in the final five rounds, also drawing attention for openly criticising Audi drivers' conduct over the team radio. He won the season finale and finished fifth in the championship. In 2018, he won in Hungary and at the Norisring but was beaten to fourth overall by Gary Paffett, René Rast, and Paul di Resta.
In early 2019, Wittmann took part in a Formula E test with BMW i Andretti Autosport after the Marrakesh ePrix. Back in the DTM with Team RMG, he won from pole at Hockenheim, won again at Misano, and took victory at Assen and Brands Hatch to briefly enter the title fight with René Rast and Nico Müller, ultimately finishing third. The 2020 DTM season, the final year of the Class 1 era, was his least successful, with only three podiums and ninth place in the standings.
When the DTM adopted GT3 regulations for 2021, Wittmann joined Walkenhorst Motorsport. He won at Zolder, started from pole at the Red Bull Ring before narrowly losing to Liam Lawson, and won again at Assen, finishing fourth in the championship. That year he also scored his maiden 24 Hours of Nürburgring podium, finishing second for Rowe Racing alongside Martin Tomczyk, Sheldon van der Linde, and Connor De Phillippi.
In 2022, still with Walkenhorst, retirements in the first half of the season left him with only one podium entering the final round at Hockenheim. There he finished third on Saturday and then overtook René Rast on Sunday to win dominantly, ending the year eighth in the standings.
The 2023 season was Wittmann's most diverse. He raced in the DTM with Project 1, partnered Nick Yelloly and Philipp Eng at ROWE Racing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, and joined BMW as a third driver for the three IMSA SportsCar Championship endurance rounds, sharing the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the GTP class with Eng and Augusto Farfus. The DTM campaign yielded no podiums and thirteenth in the championship as the team headed towards bankruptcy. In the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, the ROWE trio won at Monza and took the 24 Hours of Spa, finishing as runners-up overall. The IMSA programme yielded a best result of sixth at Daytona.
For 2024, Wittmann joined Schubert Motorsport in the DTM alongside René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde, and was named one of six drivers for BMW M Team WRT in the Hypercar category of the FIA World Endurance Championship, partnering Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor in the No. 15.
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