Following on from a dismal Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season opener, Mercedes Team Mercedes me’s Robert Wickens is looking to move on from two incidents in successive races, having suffered a retirement at Hockenheim earlier this afternoon.
He would be involved in contact with the Audi Sport pair of Loïc Duval and Nico Müller, after several cars went wide at Nordkurve.
Wickens was the first driver to retire, after the rear of his C63 AMG Coupé hit the barriers. Duval continued, but due to the damage to his RS5 DTM, the French driver opted to retire on lap seven.
“A weekend to forget. The pace was there the whole weekend,” said the 28-year-old, who started from 16th place, behind Maxime Martin and Tom Blomqvist.
The Canadian felt that more was possible, based on the performances of the Mercedes ranks this weekend at the Baden-Württemburg circuit.
“I felt like I had a good start. I went to the inside and held my line, but unfortunately, there were too many cars trying to go for the same spot.”
Müller would be the sole survivor of the clash between the trio, as the Abt Sportsline driver eventually finished in fifth as the next best of the Audi drivers.
The next round of the 2017 DTM championship heads to East Germany in two weeks’ time, with the Lausitzring set to be the venue for races three and four.