René Rast “very unhappy” with lost points

René Rast insisted he was “very unhappy” with the result of race one at Hockenheim after seeing his lead over Nico Müller in the DTM standings cut to 13 points.

Rast had extended his advantage in the championship to 20 points over his fellow Audi driver after securing his sixth pole position of the year in a tightly-fought qualifying session on Saturday morning.

Müller managed to get ahead at the start with a forceful move into turn one and it was the start of a race-long battle between the pair for victory – with Rast looking to almost put himself out of reach in the standings and Müller seeking to keep his bid alive.

After the second of two safety car periods, Rast held the lead in what would be a five-lap dash to the flag but Müller made the most of the push-to-pass to take the lead – giving Rast two laps in which to try and reclaim the lead.

Müller held on however to secure a win that saw him to close to within 13 points of the defending champion and whilst that leaves Rast in the driving seat, he was unhappy at seeing his advantage at the front cut.

“It was a very bad race and not much went right,” he said. “The key moment was the last lap, as I didn’t know it was the last lap. The screen said there was two to go so I didn’t attack for the lead as I wanted to wait for the last lap, and then the chequered flag came out.

“I think I could have won the race, which is a real pity. 13 points is still a big gap and we need to see where I have to finish if Nico wins again tomorrow. I’m very unhappy with the race today and need to digest this one.”