Mercedes’ Paul Di Resta has criticised Audi’s Jamie Green for the contact at the start of the Norisring DTM race which spun him around before the green lights, ruining any chance of a strong result for the Scot.
Di Resta had qualified in second position for the fourth round of the season at the Nuremberg circuit. With the race starting in rainy conditions the decision was taken to start the race behind the safety car. However as the field prepared to start the race after a couple of laps behind the safety car, Di Resta was tagged by Green at the final corner and sent into a spin.
“My race was ruined even before the start,” said Di Resta, who went on to finish in 15th position. “I’ve no idea what Jamie Green was trying to do when he spun me round on the formation lap. From P2 on the grid, I was in with an excellent chance, but then something like that has to happen.
“We tried a different strategy to get back to the front of the field, but when the track started to dry out and we had to make another pit stop that was effectively the end of my race.
“The positive aspect of this weekend was that we had a fast car, which was apparent from Robert’s performance. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalise on that. But we’ll carry on fighting.”
Green called Di Resta’s line for the start of the race ‘peculiar’ and admits that he found the first few laps of the race difficult, not knowing if he would receive a penalty or not. In the end the Brit was handed a five-second pit-stop penalty for the incident, which did not cost him position but made it very difficult to challenge for the win.
“That was a really bad start of the race for both of us,” said Green of the incident. “He had a somewhat peculiar line, which surprised me. Of course I didn’t want to overtake him but, unfortunately, I still touched him.
“The subsequent laps were horrible for me because I kept wondering if I’d get a penalty for the incident. Fortunately, it was still enough for the podium.”
Green’s podium finish is his first since joining Team Rosberg at the start of the season, something the 32-year-old is pleased to have already achieved.
“This was a step in the right direction,” said the four-time Norisring winner. “Of course it would have been great to win here for Audi – that was our goal and we didn’t quite achieve it.
“Looking at the whole action I can be happy about second place. I’m also happy about the first podium I’ve clinched with Audi Sport Team Rosberg. We can build on that.”