Toto Wolff: “DMSB ruling on Ullrich is harsh”

The countdown towards the sixth round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season was shaken this afternoon with the much anticipated DMSB ruling over the events at the second race in Spielberg, four weeks ago.

The German motorsport authority handed Audi Sport a hefty set of penalties, including the loss of the points from the race. But the most notorious part of the ruling was the ban for Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who won’t be allowed on the pit lane nor to have any access to giving radio messages for the remainder of the season.

Totto Wolff, Head of Mercedes AMG, who saw two of his drivers in the receiving end of the incident, has spoken about the decision: “We have taken note of the court’s decision. Unfortunately our drivers remain without points from the second race in Spielberg. I am sorry for Pascal and Robert because those lost points might still play an important role in the fight for the championship.”

But Wolff had nothing but words of recognition for his counterpart at Audi Sport, expressing that, in his opinion, the DMSB had gone a little too far: “The court’s decision concerning Dr. Ullrich is certainly harsh. Until this incident we have known him as a man of integrity who has done a lot for the series. There are no differences between Dr. Ullrich and us, and we will continue to work together in the established way.”

The DMSB’s decision, deleting Audi’s points from Spielberg’s second race, means that now Mercedes AMG heads to Moscow as leaders of the Manufacturers’ table, with a 43-point lead over the Ingolstadt squad. Still, Totto Wolff’s expectation is for the championship to be decided on the track: “Deleting the points for Audi in the Manufacturers’ Championship means we now lead the standings. However, this is no particular reason for satisfaction because that’s not the way we want to decide a sporting competition.”