Before the action gets underway at the famed Norisring this weekend for the third round of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, defending champion Marco Wittmann got behind the wheel of the Scuderia Toro Rosso STR10 today at the Red Bull Ring.
The Team RMG driver, who secured the drivers’ title at Lausitzring late last year, had been waiting to experience a Formula One car, which was a reward from both BMW Motorsport and premium partner Red Bull for his efforts.
The Furth-based driver took advantage of dry conditions to complete 158 laps of the 4.326km track, which the DTM visits as part of its current calendar. Wittman also posted the fourth fastest time of the day with a 1:10.103, just under a second slower Mercedes title protagonist Nico Rosberg.
“This has been an amazing experience for me. I was surprised at the power of the car; if I compare it to DTM, it’s got quite a lot more power!” expressed the 25-year-old, who last sat in a single-seater in the F3 Euroseries with Signature back in 2011.
“I enjoyed the whole day, which was trouble free, so I was able to do a lot of laps. I’m happy with my day and I hope the team is too. I would like to thank Red Bull, Scuderia Toro Rosso and BMW for giving me this great opportunity.”
Along with Wittmann, Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon were also out on track, with the former driving for both Mercedes AMG Petronas and Sahara Force India over the past two days.
Toro Rosso’s Chief Race Engineer, Phil Charles, was very impressed with Wittmann’s approach and his work ethic over the day’s program: “We’ve had a very productive day, completing a high number of laps.
“There was a short time of adjustment, as he got used to the difference in braking from the DTM car to a Formula 1 machine. He then settled into a rhythm, as we started off our programme with a series of long runs. After that, it was time to proceed with the items on our test agenda; aero, tyre and set-up work, with some performance runs in the middle of the day, mainly for the driver’s benefit.”