Vietoris/Paffett position swap to catch Wittmann fails to pay-off

The two Mercedes drivers Christian Vietoris and Gary Paffett made a late-race swap of positions at Zandvoort in Race 1 in order to maximise the use of DRS between them to try and catch the BMW of Marco Wittmann, but ultimately they failed to take the spot from the former champion, with Paffett relinquishing the podium spot back to Vietoris on the final lap.

After the first slow zone period, Wittmann fell away from the HWA Mercedes of Robert Wickens and into the clutches of the Mücke Mercedes of Christian Vietoris, but the Mercedes driver was ultimately unable to pass Wittmann at the hard-to-pass Zandvoort circuit, and so slowed to allow Paffett a chance in the latter stages.

“I’d used my DRS behind Marco trying to pass him, and I’d run out of DRS and Gary had some DRS left I let him by to have a chance, but it didn’t work out for him, so I got my podium back,” said Vietoris after the race.

“We’re a team, we try to do the best for Mercedes,” said Paffett to TouringCarTimes. “Christian had used all his DRS, and at that point during the race I was quicker. I was catching Marco and I didn’t have DRS (in range), so Chris let me past to see if I could have a go, but unfortunately we lost a bit of time when he let me past and we didn’t get close enough, so I gave him the place back as he’d deserved it.”

Vietoris’ podium is his first of the year in a season where opportunities for strong results have slipped away so far.

“I’ve lost so many points this season,” said Vietoris. “In Lausitzring I got a penalty in qualifying, in Norisring pole position, and no points, so today starting P3 I had a bad feeling as so far I’ve not scored big points. The championship is over for me so my target is to do the best I can, and the big target is to score a victory for Mücke Motorsport.”