Mercedes-Benz driver Paul di Resta admits that he is looking forward to making his first visit to the ‘old school’ Red Bull Ring in Austria for the sixth round of the 2014 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
Di Resta has never before raced on the Speilberg circuit, which only returned to the DTM calendar in 2012 after an eight-year absence.
“I’m racing for the first time this weekend in Spielberg,” explained di Resta. “I’ve first got to familiarise myself with the track as was the case in the last race in Moscow, which I’m looking forward to doing.
“The track is very much an ‘old school’ circuit. Achieving a high level of efficiency counts for a lot in view of the long straights and hard braking zones, but we’re travelling to Spielberg with an open mind and will wait and see how we perform in practice.
“Our goal is to continue to work hard, do our best and learn as much as possible.”
Many believe that the nature of the Red Bull Ring could suit Mercedes more than newer purpose-built venues such as the Moscow Raceway or the Hockenheimring. The relative lack of corners and the heavy braking zones is a feature which works well for Mercedes, as proven by their victory at the Norisring.
Mercedes-Benz Head of Motorsport Toto Wolff admits that he is looking forward to a ‘home’ race.
“I always look forward to race weekends in my home country,” said the Austrian. “We’ve got a tough task ahead of us this year in Spielberg. We have to be realistic about expectations, as was the case in the previous races this season, and try to get the maximum possible.
“We’ll just have to see what the end effect of our efforts is and what final positions we can manage. Christian and Pascal finished in the top eight in the last race in Moscow, which was quite a decent result for that type of track.”
Once again, however, Wolff played down expectations, as has become the norm for Mercedes ahead of a DTM race weekend in 2014.
“We experienced many ups and downs during the first half of the season,” added Wolff. “We know that our performance does not meet our expectations in all conditions and at every circuit, and for that reason, we will continue to work hard in order to improve during the second half of the season.”