Paul Di Resta still leader despite difficult day in Spielberg

Mercedes AMG driver Paul Di Resta finished the day as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Drivers’ standings leader, despite struggling for pace at the Red Bull Ring, host of the second round of the season.

The Scot, who had his first victory in the series two weeks ago after more than five years in the dry, was the leading driver for the three-point star manufacturer, qualifying in eighth place on the grid, to finish the race in seventh. The result allows Di Resta to remain leader of the standings, albeit with only a 3-point lead over Audi’s Edoardo Mortara.

Di Resta remained upbeat about the result, highlighting the importance of continuing to score points: “I’m pretty happy with the race. We still have some work to do, but the key to winning is consistency. We’ll just have to work harder tomorrow and try to finish higher up. There was some contact in the race with Antonio Felix da Costa, among others. That was definitely much too harsh – he hit me and forced me over the kerbs. Still, he has since apologised to me.”

Ulrich Fritz, Head of DTM for Mercedes AMG, remained phylosophical, vowing to strive to keep the momentum and the results coming: “That was absolutely not the result that we had hoped for in this race. It was obvious that we would face challenges with the new car on circuits where we have not competed in it before. Unfortunately, that proved to be true today. In the end, the car simply did not work as we had hoped. The only positive thing I can say about today is that Paul still leads the championship. But somehow, it seems the relationship between Spielberg and us does not want to end happily. However, we will have to take a good look at all the data and try to make things better tomorrow.”

The DTM action resumes tomorrow morning with the third free practice session at 10:20 CEST.