Mercedes had hoped for better results in Zandvoort
Mercedes AMG has expressed their disappointment after the weekend in Zandvoort, where Christian Vietoris was their best placed driver in fifth position. Pascal Wehrlein was seventh, with Robert Wickens eighth after Daniel Juncadella’s penalty.
Vietoris sported the only Mercedes C-Coupé with a revised aero package, and experienced problems during qualifying with the power steering, managing to be only 18th on the grid. However, he managed a good race, finishing fifth: “First of all, I have to say a big ‘thank you’ to my team. They have worked incredibly hard this week to get the car ready in time for the race weekend. That was a superb achievement. I’m really pleased that we have scored points today and that we’re still in with a chance of finishing the season in second place. P5 is a decent result after starting from 18th on the grid. We certainly weren’t counting on this going into the race. Tailing Edoardo Mortara on the final couple of laps, I had more to lose than to gain. For that reason, I decided to bank the points for a fifth-place finish and to avoid taking any unnecessary risks.”
Pascal Wehrlein had shown good pace in qualy yesterday, feeling he could have done better. In the end, the 19-year-old felt his strategy suffered because of the Safety Car periods: “My start was not too good, unfortunately, and I lost a position. I tried to nurse my tyres during the race. That didn’t work out brilliantly well. My speed on the options was not as good as later on the prime tyre. The race was full of action. There were lots of incidents and safety car periods. That didn’t suit our strategy and cost us our advantage on options. Towards the end, I was bumped up the back by Maxime Martin while battling for position. That cost me sixth place. However, it was a decent race under these tough circumstances.”
Robert Wickens had an impressive performance, being able to recover from 21st on the grid to ninth at the chequered flag, being promoted one position after Juncadella’s penalty: “We need to analyse the race in detail. I don’t understand what some other drivers were doing out there. There are always drivers who you can have a fair race with and still preserve the fun element. Then there are the others who drive into the side of your car when you’re braking and cause you to spin like Molina did with me. P8 is okay, but a lot more points were possible. Anyway, the team did a good job.”
Probably, one of the most frustrated men in the DTM family today was Daniel Juncadella. The Spaniard arrived to one of his favourite circuits, and one he knows well, to be baffled about his Mercedes C-Coupe’s lack of performance yesterday, which saw him on the penultimate row of the grid. He recovered through the field to be eighth on the finishing line, only to receive a 30-second penalty, as the Stewards deemed him responsible for Augusto Farfus’ crashk, which he felt he couldn’t have avoided: “P8 was actually a decent result. We made the right call every time. Unfortunately, this retrospective penalty has dropped me out of the points. It was a crazy race. I had a contact with Augusto Farfus, who changed direction twice, which meant I was unable to avoid him. Things could have gone even a little bit better overall. I was pleased with my charge up the field from grid position 21. The penalty has cost me my just reward for all my efforts.”
Wolfang Schattling, Head of Motorsport Marketing and Communications for Mercedes, felt better results were on the cards: “It sounds good initially, bringing home three DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupés in the Top Ten, but unfortunately, they didn’t finish where we wanted them to. We had hoped for a better result after Pascal’s strong showing in qualifying. Unfortunately, we couldn’t pull it off in the race.”
Mercedes head now to the season finale in Hockenheim in the hope of pulling a good collective effort to finish 2014 on a high.
