Mercedes seeks improvement for tomorrow
Mercedes Benz had a more complicated than expected time today at the Lausitzring, after their drivers has difficulties at the start of the race. Still, the Stuttgart manufacturer scored points, with Pascal Wehrlein as best finisher in fifth place.
Mercedes place three drivers in the points’ positions. Apart from Wehrlein’s fifth position, Robert Wickens was sixth, with Daniel Juncadella in tenth place.
Pascal Wehrlein had hopes of repeating his victory from last year. However, a poor start hampered his possibilities: “Unfortunately, my start wasn’t very good, which cost me several positions and spoilt my race to some extent, because my race pace was otherwise really good. But because of my poor start, I first had to regain the lost positions. When we get involved in overtaking battles, we’re not able to show our optimum pace. Towards the end, I was able to close the gap on the Audis, but all in all, I’m not quite satisfied with this race. It should have been possible to achieve more.”
Robert Wickens did a better job at the green light, but got stuck in the pack at the first corner. The Canadian was satisfied with his result: “Sixth is OK. After all, I finished where I started. My start was very good, but unfortunately, I got stuck on the outside in Turn 1. I thought that would be smarter than to go wide on the outside, as I might have ended up in the grass otherwise. A points-scoring result is strong. Of course, I always want more. Hopefully, I can achieve that tomorrow.”
Daniel Juncadella was on a more optimistic mood after scoring his first point of the season. The Spaniard had a long battle with Marco Wittmann, and drove a solid race: “That was by no means an easy race. I locked up my front wheels on Turn 1 trying to overtake Marco Wittmann. After that, my pace wasn’t as good as at the start of the race. All things considered, our car deserved a Top Five finish. If I can qualify better tomorrow, I should be able to achieve even more.”
Ulrich Fritz, Head of DTM for Mercedes, had harsh words for his men, and expects more for tomorrow: “Unfortunately, the start was not terrific, causing Pascal and Robert to drop several positions down the field, but they both fought back and were able at least to reclaim their original positions. The result is, of course, unsatisfactory. Sadly, more was not possible today. We will now just have to see where we can improve for tomorrow.”
DTM on track action starts tomorrow with the morning warm up at 9:50 CEST (GMT + 2).
