Mercedes AMG leaves Oschersleben with an extended lead in the standings
Mercedes AMG had high hopes for this weekend’s seventh round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. However, their best results were the fifth places achieved by Pascal Wehrlein in both races. Still, the Stuttgart squad managed to increase their advantage in the standings.
Only two C63 DTMs were in the points today, with Paul Di Resta being sixth at the chequered flag. The Mercedes squad was able to score points and reduce the gap to Audi, but the positive note is that Pascal Wehrlein has put some distance over Mattias Ekström.
The 20-year old had a difficult start, having to concede space and positions to avoid a collision at the first corner, thus dropping to fifth place. Wehrlein fought hard all race, but wasn’t able to reduce the gap to António Félix Da Costa in order to plan an overtaking maneouvre. In the end, the number 94 Mercedes crossed the line in fifth, scoring points and finishing ahead of his main rival in the championship, Audi’s Mattias Ekström.
Pascal Wehrlein took stock of the overall situation, and was pleased with the outcome: “My start was okay until the first turn, but then I was on the outside and would perhaps have been spun, if I’d not left the door open. That’s why I lost a position there. On the whole, I thought that we might perhaps be a bit stronger in the race, but it was only enough for fifth place in the end. Still, I can be pleased with my position in the overall standings.”
Paul Di Resta drove a tranquil race in sixth position, being able to score points again. In the end, the Scot lamented not having the speed to move forward in the classification: “A reasonable result. I suppose I have to be happy with points. It’s obviously a shame when you qualify fifth on the grid not to move forwards, but I think the pace today in race conditions wasn’t quite where it needed to be, unfortunately. Qualifying was good, so, we can leave Oschersleben feeling fairly satisfied with the weekend. Hopefully, we’ll do a bit better at the Nürburgring.”
Gary Paffett lost positions as a result of avoiding spinning cars in front of him. The Briton, one of the first to congratulate winner Tom Blomqvist from BMW, felt frustrated after not being able to do more in this race: “Obviously, starting from P11 was always going to be tricky, plus, I was really unlucky at the start. Molina spun in front of me and I had to go off track into the gravel to avoid him, that’s why I lost a lot of positions. Then Mortara locked up and took me out of the race once more. I again lost a lot of positions as a result.”
Mercedes AMG now lies third in the Manufacturers’ standings, 71 points behind the leaders. Pascal Wehrlein has extended his lead in the Drivers’ table, with 140 points, 14 more than Mattias Ekström. In the Teams’ table, the gooix/Original Teile at HWA AG also leads the standings with 36 points over BMW Team MTEK.
Ullrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes AMG, felt disappointed at not being able to extract more from the weekend in Oschersleben: “That was a disappointing race for us – one we’d already lost at the start. After a solid qualifying, none of our drivers who had qualified in the Top Ten were able to gain position. Oschersleben is a track where it’s extremely difficult to overtake. We saw the proof of that again today. At least, Pascal Wehrlein was able to extend his lead in the championship. What was also very positive is that Paul Di Resta finished sixth, extending our lead in the teams’ standings.”
Next race for the DTM is Nürbugring, from the 25th to the 27th of September.
