Mercedes aims for the podium at Spielberg

The Red Bull Ring hosts the fifth round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season this weekend and Mercedes AMG hope to continue their ascending form, targeting the podium in Austria.

The Stuttgart manufacturer lies second in the standings, just 52 points behind the leader Audi Sport. Mercedes had a particularly good weekend at the Norisring, managing to not lose track from their Ingolstadt rivals at Zandvoort. Having performed well at the Red Bull Ring in the past, the three-point star manufacturer hopes to continue their challenge for all three titles this season.

In fact, the gooix/Original-Teile pair at HWA AG leads the Teams’ table, thanks to the efforts of Pascal Wehrlein and Christian Vietoris. The 21-year old is third in the Drivers’ championship, having equaled Audi’s Mattias Ekströ, and just 5 points behind the leader, Jamie Green. Wehrlein is already looking forward to the challenge ahead: “ I’m feeling well prepared for Spielberg and really looking forward to the track. Over the last few years, I’ve always managed to get good results there. But after having to retire from last year’s race, I’ve got some unfinished business with Spielberg and I’m really looking forward to finally getting back in the car.”

Robert Wickens had a fantastic weekend in Norisring, and hopes to recover after a very difficult weekend in Zandvoort: “I feel like I have some unfinished business from Spielberg last year. We got the pole position last time, and my expectations are high of having two strong results this weekend. Zandvoort was a disaster, and the whole team is motivated to turn our fortunes around.”

One of the most motivated men at Mercedes this weekend will be Lucas Auer. The rookie visits his home race of the season, hoping for a good result in front of his own crowd: “I’m really looking forward to my home race at Spielberg. This will certainly be a great weekend. I’ve already had plenty of success on this track in Formula 3. That may not count for a lot this time, but at least it gives me extra motivation for the race weekend. Let’s wait and see what comes out of it in the end. I think that Mercedes-Benz will be competitive, as indeed on all tracks. We have to work hard and then hopefully get a good result.”

Ullrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes AMG DTM, remains pragmatic, seeking to maximise the points count and maintain the challenge in all the championships: “The races at Spielberg will be another important indicator for us. We lead the team standings and are also well placed in the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships. The objective for the coming weekend is to score the maximum number of points. Last year, we displayed good performance at the Red Bull Ring but didn’t reap any reward because of penalties. So you could say that we have some unfinished business there.”

Competition at the Red Bull ring starts on Friday at 11:25 CEST (GMT + 2), with the Roll Out session.