Vitaly Petrov happy despite 17th place finish

Ex-Formula 1 driver Vitaly Petrov is happy with his result at the Hungaroring, despite finishing 17th and out of the points.

Petrov joined Mercedes’ DTM programme for the 2014 DTM season. Since starting his DTM career at the Hockenheim in May, the Russian has qualified toward the bottom of the field, and has yet to score open his DTM career points account.

However, despite finishing 17th again, Petrov is happy with his performance and believes his driving is progressively improving.

“It may sound strange, but I’m actually quite satisfied with the race,” said Petrov after the race. “Perhaps it’s time to change the number on my car to 17 as well?

“[Anyway], it may sound strange, but I’m actually quite satisfied with the race.

“I feel that my driving has improved, and I was able to close the gap on the cars in front of me. In fact, I was a bit faster than them.”

Petrov added being caught in the Turn 1 melee added to his 17th place finish, but overall, Mercedes has improved the handling of its 2014 C Coupe DTM.

“All in all, I’m satisfied, and the car was handling a lot better.”

“I managed to gain a few positions on Turn 1 and then decided to stay out on the second corner.

“The accident forced me to take evasive action, which meant that I lost those positions again, [so] that was a real shame.”