Pascal Wehrlein secures his first pole and then maiden win at the Lausitzring

In tricky weather conditions, Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein (gooix Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) took his maiden victory in the DTM, making him the youngest winner ever in the series. The 19-year-old already made DTM history on Saturday by becoming the youngest pole-setter in the DTM.

Christian Vietoris (Original-Teile Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) in second place gave Mercedes-Benz their 101st one-two victory in the internationally popular touring car series. Vietoris improved his position on the first laps after the start to move up from P11 to P2. Vietoris on 59 points is placed second in the overall standings with two races to go until the end of the season. BMW driver Marco Wittmann clinched the championship title before season’s end at the Lausitzring.

In all, four DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupés finished in the top five. Daniel Juncadella (Petronas Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) in fourth place repeated his best result so far in the DTM. Robert Wickens (FREE MAN’S WORLD Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) finished fifth.

Vitaly Petrov (DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) booked P12 and Gary Paffett (EURONICS Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) took P13. Paul Di Resta (DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) retired before the end of the race.

The next race: The ninth round of the DTM takes place on the weekend of September 27th-28th at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

Comments after the Race

Pascal Wehrlein (19, Germany, gooix Mercedes AMG C-Coupé - Winner): “First pole, then the win. It hardly gets any better. I’m mega happy. My team worked terrifically well. The pit stops and our strategy were all super. We waited until the track was dry enough for options, then we switched. That was definitely the right choice. My pace was really impressive and I was able to control the race from the front. I’ve had an incredible day and a fantastic week. It's all been simply fabulous. It’s a pity that Daniel didn’t finish on the podium today. He thoroughly deserved to and it would have been great to savour my maiden win with him by my side on the podium.”

Christian Vietoris (25, Germany, Original-Teile Mercedes AMG C-Coupé - 2nd): “Our car was quick this weekend from the very start. Unfortunately, my qualifying result did not do justice to the car’s potential, but these weather conditions really suit me, so I knew that I was in with a good chance, even though I was only in P11 on the grid. This is a brilliant result for us – a one-two win and four Mercedes-Benz drivers in the top five. It goes to show that the hard work put in by the guys is paying off. I’m now second in the championship. You wouldn’t have thought so at the start of the season. There’s definitely an upward trend and I hope that it continues.”

Daniel Juncadella (23, Spain, Petronas Mercedes AMG C-Coupé - 4th): “This is my best result of the season but I’m still a bit disappointed, since I lost out on a possible second place after being handed a drive-through penalty. That probably cost me my first podium, which is why I find the result disappointing.”

Robert Wickens (25, Canada, FREE MAN’S WORLD Mercedes AMG C-Coupé - 5th): “That was a bit of a crazy race. Starting from P12 you don't really know what to expect. I actually had a bad start. I was able to make up some places on Lap 1 to get back to P12. After that, the race was going very well until I got a drive-through penalty. I was surprised, because I thought I had slowed down enough for the yellow flags. But evidently I hadn’t. Unfortunately, that ruined my chances of a podium, but in the end, if you come fifth despite a drive-through penalty, you can't really complain that much. Starting from twelfth and finishing in P5, I think it was a decent day.”

Vitaly Petrov (29, Russia, DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé - 12th): “That was a tough day. The conditions certainly weren’t perfect. I was fairly slow at the start of the race, and several cars overtook me. I think my tyres weren’t up to temperature at that stage. But once I got into my rhythm, I had good race pace. Unfortunately, I was then hit with a drive-through penalty which ruined my race. Otherwise, I might have finished in the points. At one point, I spun round on the track, which shows that I need more time in the car, especially on tracks that I’m not familiar with. Even so, it’s apparent that we’re making steady progress.”

Gary Paffett (33, England, EURONICS Mercedes AMG C-Coupé - 13th): “I got a bad start and lost a lot of positions through wheelspin. Müller hit me from behind on lap three. From then on, I was at the back of the field. My pace was OK, but you’ve no chance of scoring any points when you’ve been taken out by another driver.”

Paul Di Resta (28, Scotland, DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé - retired): “That was a very strong performance by the team. I moved up from 21st on the grid to P6. I had a lot of good scraps with people along the way. Unfortunately, the steering broke after a sequence of bumps very early on. Having to retire after staging such a good recovery is obviously disappointing. Now we go to the next race, and I’ll be fighting hard.”

Wolfgang Schattling, Head of Motorsport Marketing & Communications: “Firstly, I would like to congratulate Marco Wittmann and BMW on winning the DTM title, but we also have all good reason to be pleased. We never expected before the race to get four cars in the top five. Pascal’s performance was extraordinary. He maintained his secure lead to the finish line, becoming the youngest winner in the annals of the DTM. We produced the previous youngest ever DTM winner 19 years ago in Dario Franchitti. Back then, Pascal was just being born.

Christian’s charge up the field from eleventh on the grid was also excellent. Daniel and Robert drove strong races too. We’re really enjoying today’s success, but we know that we’ve still got a lot of work in front of us. Compared to the opposition, our showing in the dry is still not that good. At any rate, it’s brilliant to know that our team can always do a top-class job especially when conditions are as tough as these.”

Mercedes-Benz