Mercedes with lots of work to do after a difficult day in Zandvoort
Mercedes AMG had a stellar weekend at Norisring, but they already knew Zandvoort would be difficult. Today’s race confirmed the struggle the C63 DTM faces this weekend, with only Pascal Wehrlein getting into points positions.
The young German started the race from the 15th spot on the grid, and managed to recover ground to finish in 10th position, scoring one point. Wehrlein, who still is the best Mercedes placed driver in the standings, felt he could have done more: “My start wasn’t very good. After that, my speed was good. I had a minor collision with Adrien Tambay, which from my perspective was unnecessary. Apart from that, I was satisfied with my race, though obviously not with the result.”
Gary Paffett qualified in fifth position. The Briton from ART GP battled for fourth, but had an off track excursion after a collision with Augusto Farfus, losing time and places. He was 11th in the race. Paffett lamented not being able to convert his good race into a result: “I got alongside Augusto on the outside of Turn 1, but he got pushed and I got pushed wide and, unfortunately, I didn’t gain any places. I stayed in P5. I managed to stay in his DRS which was the aim. The aim was to try and get him at the end, because he started to struggle with the tyres a bit. I had the DRS and he moved to the inside for Turn 7, braked a bit early, and I just misjudged his braking point and just touched the back, and that was it. It was unfortunate, really. I wasn’t trying to overtake him there I was just trying to get close. It was a shame.”
Paul di Resta retired after crashing in the initial stages, whilst Robert Wickens finished his race with damage after a contact with an oponent. The rest of the Mercedes drivers were outside the points.
Ullrich Fritz, Head of DTM, hopes his damaged cars can be repaired for tomorrow: “Today’s result is disappointing, but we knew this weekend would be difficult. Unfortunately, some of our cars were damaged, so our crew has a lot to do this evening. Still, we’ll continue to work just as hard as before and see if we can do better tomorrow.”
After today’s race, Mercedes trails Audi by 53 points in the Manufacturers’ standings, having lost ground against their opponent.
