Pascal Wehrlein misses out in weather-disrupted test at Vallelunga

Pascal Wehrlein, who was scheduled to run on the first day for the first time since the announcement of his return to the series, was unable to get behind the wheel of the new C63 DTM due to the icy and snow conditions which hit Mercedes’ pre-season test at Vallelunga.

Tricky weather rationed the teams’ progress during the three-day test, with only Gary Paffett able to get any running in dry conditions. The 2005 champion, who will contest his 15th DTM campaign this year and is now the most experienced driver on the grid following Mattias Ekström’s switch to the World Rallycross Championship, managed 119 laps and a best time of 1:26.751 with the new specification car.

“This year, there have been some big changes to the aerodynamic parts of the car, and there are also more standard parts,” said Paffett. “This should hopefully help to level the playing field. The car did not feel amazingly different. It has a little less downforce, but it is still a DTM car.”

Lucas Auer took over on Saturday while the rain fell, with his programme coming to an early end after an off-track excursion. “It was super-cool to be in a DTM car again,” said Auer.
“Unfortunately, it was only for a very short time, because I made a mistake and crashed the car. I apologise to the team and especially to Pascal.” The 2015 champion was due to take over the wheel during the afternoon and will now have to wait until the Hockenheim official test in April.

“Despite the challenging weather conditions, we had been having a useful test session until Lucas skidded off the track, and we had managed to get through our scheduled programme up to that point,” said head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Ulrich Fritz. “Unfortunately, we are missing half of a test day now. Pascal’s comeback will therefore have to wait until the test in Hockenheim.”

The Hockenheim test is scheduled from the 9th to the 12th of April.