Marco Wittmann: “Podium finish feels like a win to us”

BMW Motorsport Marco Wittmann had a mixed season opener in Hockenheim, ending the weekend on a high with a podium finish in changing conditions.

Saturday was a difficult day for the reigning champion, being able to only reap one point in the race after qualifying in 11th place on the grid.

Sunday started on a more disastrous note, with Wittmann only managing 17th place on the last row of the grid. “The qualifying was difficult and we made the calls at the wrong time. We started on the wets in mixed conditions, but went on slicks too early, the qualifying strategy just didn’t work for us, so being on the podium is like a victory for us,” Marco Wittmann said to TouringCarTimes.

The restart on lap four after the safety car intervention was one of the conflictive points, with the procedure being investigated by the stewards. Asked about his perspective, the Team RMG driver said: “I was in tenth position at the restart, in the middle of the pack, so I listened to the radio signal and followed the pack. Then, at turn 1, I had to go wide to avoid crashing.”

Talking about his race strategy, Wittmann added: “I had quite a good first lap, recovering seven positions and then, on the safety car restart, I made up another four, so I was already P6, which was a great achievement. Afterwards, it was a question of not making any mistakes and making the right decision about when to change to the wets. It was a super race to recover 14 positions.”

The ban of the radio communications from the pit to the driver was an added difficulty for the reigning champion. “It’s very tough, as you cannot have any messages about strategy and the driver has to always make the call, it’s really difficult as the team cannot give you any advise about your pace, and it’s even worse in such changing conditions. Thankfully today I made the right choice but it’s not easy,” said the German driver.

A lot of things are new this year in the DTM. Asked on his perspective as a twice champion, Marco Wittmann said: “I think it’s quite exciting racing. In the dry races it’s more about managing your tyres into the distance, which isn’t easy, especially if you have fights against others. Today conditions were very similar to the past, but with no radio communications was trickier. I think it all adds good excitement for the year.”

Marco Wittmann comes out of Hockenheim sixth in the drivers’ standings, 24 points behind leading driver Lucas Auer.