Christian Vietoris and Robert Wickens aiming for the front

Mercedes drivers Christian Vietoris and Robert Wickens are targetting another strong performance in this weekend’s DTM race at Spielberg, Austria.

Both drivers scored their maiden DTM career podiums in the first two races of the year, with Vietoris taking third at Hockenheim, and Wickens claiming the same position two weeks later at Brands Hatch.

The result came as a surprise to Wickens, as he inherited the final step on the podium after stablemate Gary Paffett was hit with a time penalty immediately after the race, which saw the Briton drop to sixth after the race.

Vietoris, who finished eighth last time out, believes the car is capable of much more than he showed in the DTM’s British round following a mistake in qualifying, and he will be aiming to improve on that result in Austria.

“But for the mistake in qualifying, more than P8 would have been possible, [so] I intend to make up for that in Spielberg.”

Meanwhile, on the back of his Brands Hatch result, Robert Wickens is brimming with confidence and the Canadian believes his maiden podium was a turning point in his DTM career.

“Now that I’ve tasted champagne at the winners’ ceremony, there’s no holding me back and I aim to finish on the podium more often!

“I’ve already demonstrated that I can hold my own in a scrap against all comers over a full 98 laps at Brands Hatch.”

Despite both drivers’ obvious confidence ahead of the event, they remain cautious about the team’s C-Coupe’s qualifying performance, which saw Wickens line up 13th at Brands Hatch, and Vietoris finish three positions behind.

The best placed of the Mercedes drivers was Paffett in 11th.

However, car showed strong race pace with four of its drivers finishing in the top-10.

“I’ll have a good chance of being in contention for a top position if qualifying at Spielberg goes better than it did at Brands Hatch,” said Wickens.

Vietoris added: “My car was much better in the race and I was able to move up the field eight positions after a tricky qualifying.”

Fellow Mercedes youngsters, Roberto Merhi and Pascal Wehrlein, also put in good performances in the first two races to open their DTM career points accounts.