Timo Glock called on Mercedes to rethink its decision to exit the DTM at the end of the year in an expletive-riddled post-race message after claiming victory in a race-long duel with Gary Paffett.
Glock and Paffett fought at the front for ten laps of the second half of the race, with Paffett using all of his DRS and more in an attempt to get past Glock, who as the early leader had the DRS advantage.
After the race, Glock then radioed in a pointed message to Mercedes – with the Stuttgart marque planning to exit DTM at the end of 2018.
“Fucking hell, this was awesome,” screamed Glock. “This was the best fucking racing I ever had in my life.
“Fucking hell Mercedes, you should not leave this championship – you fucking idiots! You should not leave this championship – this is racing. Fuck yes!
“I tell you – this is racing. It is unreal – bloody hell. Well do to Gary Paffett to have such a fight. Thanks to everyone who watched this race today – this is awesome.”
After the race, Glock then lauded the race as the best in his life, with the win being his fifth in the touring car series.
“This was the coolest race of my life. This was pure racing, I really had to squeeze everything out of the car and I didn’t have time to relax. That is what is typical for the DTM. This was the best race ever, and I have done many races in my career.”
Watch: Timo Glock and Gary Paffett duel for the lead
Paffett ultimately finished in third after slipping behind Mike Rockenfeller on the last lap, but the Brit also described it as the best race in his 168 race DTM career.
“That really was an incredible race,” said Paffett. “I never gave up and even though it is only third place in the end, it was still worth it.
“I love Timo, that was incredible. We could have both backed off at any time and taken second place. Because we knew that the others were eventually going to catch up with us. But neither of us wanted to give up.
“At the end of the day, third place is disappointing, but it was worth it. It was the best race I’ve ever driven in. A fight for the win like that is absolutely incredible.
“I used up my DRS relatively early on. That’s why I just wanted to get past Timo and pull out a one-second gap.
“But every time I looked in the mirror, it wasn’t quite enough and there he was again.”