Mercedes duo critical of Mattias Ekström following clash

The leading Mercedes pair of Christian Vietoris and Robert Wickens have hit out at the driving of Mattias Ekström after a clash on lap 20 of the opening race at the Norisring eliminated all three from contention for the win.

The Team Mücke C63 DTM of Vietoris and his Team HWA stablemate Wickens were running first and second when Team Abt Sportsline’s Ekström attempted to pass Wickens into Grundig-Kehre and collected Vietoris on the apex.

The German continued with a damaged car to finish 10th, while Ekström retired in the pits with damage and Wickens was out on the spot.

Initially, the Canadian failed to rejoin because his reverse gear failed, but it was immaterial in the end his C63 was later diagnosed with suspension damage.

Ekström has since apologised for the incident, which is being investigated by the stewards.

All three drivers gave their view of the incident after the race.

Vietoris said: “We were leading the race pretty easy, one and two, and he just took us both out. I understand he was fighting Robert but he was braking way too late.

“If I hadn’t have been there I think he would have been in the wall. I don’t know what he was doing there. He is struggling all year, making strange moves.

“I think everyone saw he fucked it up today. It was a silly move – he’s experienced enough, he’s a champion twice. He came into my garage and was saying “sorry, sorry” but with a smile on his face, and that’s not what I want.

“I was lucky to continue the race. I was running P6 at that point but I had no pace and I was lucky at the end to score a point. But to be honest, I don’t really care.”

Wickens said: “I’m upset for myself but I am also upset for Chris. Everything was looking good until a desperate driver makes a desperate move. As a consequence all three are out of the race.

“What does he think, I’m not going to defend my position? I’m just going to open the door and let him go? Maybe I should have, because he was never going to make the corner at the speed he was going.

“To be honest, what put me out of the race was that reverse gear broke. But when we got the car back, the left front suspension was damaged. I may have been able to drive to the pits but my race would have been over regardless. The toe link was really bent.”

Ekstrom said: “I wanted to overtake Wickens and braked at the normal point. I tried to go inside but he closed the door a bit.

“I couldn’t avoid him because I had already chosen my braking point.

“I feel incredibly sorry for Christian. He was totally faultless in getting entangled in the tussle between me and Wickens.”

“That Mattias (Ekström) wouldn’t do anything like that on purpose should be clear to anyone,” added Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “We’d have preferred to celebrate our first Norisring victory since 2002 in a slightly different way. But ‘that’s racing.’ The collision between Wickens and Ekström was a racing accident of the kind that frequently happens at the Norisring. Eki has often thrilled us with his overtaking maneuvers. This time, it went wrong, which wasn’t his fault alone. We wouldn’t even be discussing it at all if it hadn’t affected a third driver, Christian Vietoris, who was not involved in the maneuver.”

You can make your own minds up about the incident by watching the video below: