Mercedes not pleased with home race result
Home race for Mercedes Benz didn’t produced the results they had expected, after Paul Di Resta was their best placed driver, in fourth position. Robert Wickens, eighth, was their other only driver to make it into the points, in a race that simply didn’t pan out as expected, especially since they were introducing a new aero package in all seven cars.
The first few laps were promising, with Pascal Wehrlein up to second position after a good start. However, the young German received a drive-through penalty after an unsafe release from his obligatory pit stop, having to retire with two laps to go: “Up to my pit stop, I was having a good race. I got off to a great start and was incredibly fast on the option tyres. Later on, my tyres started to degrade faster than those of race leader Jamie Green, but at least I managed to defend my second position. If it hadn’t been for the drive-through penalty, I would have been in with a chance of a podium. Unfortunately, I got spun round after the restart and was forced to return to the pits.”
Another unfortunate driver was Mücke’s Dani Juncadella. The Spaniard had a difficult qualifying yesterday, but chose to start on the options with a view to getting into points positions before his pit stop. Things were going well, with Juncadella up to seventh place, but the pace wasn’t there for him with the standard tyres. In the end, a collision forced him to retire: “Things were looking good at the start of the race. I thought I could finish in the points. Unfortunately, my pace subsequently dropped off when I tried to overtake Bruno. It was a little too late and we made contact. After that, he braked in front of me going down the straight. I think something broke on my car after the contact. I spun off on the next lap. That wasn’t a nice way to end the season, but the first stint of the race was decent.”
On a more positive note was Paul Di Resta. The Scottish driver recovered from tenth on the grid to fourth at the chequered flag, and was full of praise for his team: “We had a good car today. At the beginning of the season, the car was very different, but if we had had this to start with, the season would have been different. I didn’t make any mistakes and tried to keep up with the guys in front of me. The long nights spent working have paid off. We can go into the winter break with a positive result, but the new season actually starts tomorrow for us.”
Totto Wolff remained determined to improve things for next year, after a season trailing off in terms of pace, but having also achieved three victories. In true sportsmanship, his first words were for Audi Sport, wishing for a better result in their home race: “Our congratulations to Audi on their strong team showing. I’m not all that pleased with our result. It was a small step in the right direction but not yet quite enough. Still, we can build on today’s performance. I was particularly pleased to see that so many spectators had come to the home race of Mercedes-Benz this Sunday. They created a fantastic atmosphere at the season finale. We have mixed feelings as we look back over the season. We’ll now have to get to grips more with our car over the winter, and preparations for the new season will begin tomorrow. We intend to attack again from the front next season.”
Mercedes Benz has finished third in the Manufacturers’ championship, and their best placed driver this season was Christian Vietoris, fourth in the final standings with 69 points.
