In just the first five races of the 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM is enjoying a high level of success in what is their final year in the series, with an emphatic 1-2 finish being led by Scotland’s Paul Di Resta earlier this afternoon.
Several overtakes that were shown by Di Resta, runner-up Lucas Auer and Daniel Juncadella, helped to contribute to their success in the first race of the weekend, which saw all bar Pascal Wehrlein secure points.
The race also saw Gary Paffett take a seven-point lead in the drivers’ standings, after the Briton was able to use good strategy around the 4.381-km circuit, putting him up to sixth position at the finish.
“That was again a very strong team performance,” stated head of DTM, Ulrich Fritz, whose outfit now leads the constructors’ standings with 278 points.
“The fact that we’ve achieved this on a track where we haven’t always been so successful in the past is all the more significant. It shows that we have a car which currently has superb balance. My compliments to the whole team who have been doing a great job all season.”
After a year of not scoring a victory, which happened in race one at the same venue last season, Di Resta himself was “delighted” with how the day went at the circuit, based just 20 kilometres outside of the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
“We did not have the best of pit stops – Nico Müller probably had a better one – but overall, we’ve done a very good job all day, from practice through qualifying to the race itself, and we ultimately got the best possible result,” said the 32-year-old, who now moves up to third in the standings behind Timo Glock.
“It’s always about getting the right balance and level of cooperation, as was the case today with Lucas. We didn’t make life difficult for each other and we showed good teamwork. That’s precisely what matters.”
Lucas Auer also had a turnaround of success in the first race of the weekend, having had his fair share of dramas in the first four races of the year.
“That was a superb performance, and I’m happy with the result. Anyway, tomorrow is another day. Obviously, I’d like to be right on top next time, but sometimes that’s difficult in the DTM,” admitted the Austrian, who along with Edoardo Mortara and Wehrlein, puts all of Mercedes’ drivers, apart from Daniel Juncadella, into the top six.
Nevertheless, Auer is also targeting consistency for Sunday: “If I manage another podium appearance tomorrow, then it will have been a mega weekend for me.”