Robert Wickens happy with two podium finishes in DTM

Robert Wickens, the driver of the No. 6 Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM, finished the first race of the meeting in second place and then claimed third spot in Race 2.

After a difficult season opener at Hockenheim, Wickens ran with the leading pack at the Lausitzring. Was he under pressure to do well?

“No, not really. Clearly, Hockenheim was a weekend to forget,” Wickens replied. “But from a team perspective and as regards preparation, we did a lot of things right. It was just a weekend where we couldn't catch a break. It was just one thing after another. But our approach to the Lausitzring was the same, and this time it paid off.”

The next round will be held at the twisty Hungaroring. In which areas should the Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM be improved?

“It's all about further improving the car. At Hockenheim, it was very fast right from the word go. But because of the pre-season test at Hockenheim, we were also in a different situation. The Lausitzring, by contrast, was new for everyone. The challenge this time was getting to understand the tires on a different track. But there too, I was happy with my car from the very beginning. Consequently, I feel confident that we will also have a good car in Budapest. Hopefully, we'll be able to turn in a good qualifying performance, because that's so important in the DTM. A good qualifying result made life easier for me at the Lausitzring. But it's equally important to have a good understanding of the tires. That's another area in which we need to improve. You can never have too much knowledge of the tyres.

“Every driver would prefer to be starting from the front of the grid rather than pitting on the first lap. But we do a good job in terms of getting performance and lap time out of the tires. At the Lausitzring, we were middling in this respect - behind Audi, but ahead of BMW. So we have some catching up to do on Audi. It was also apparent at Audi, though, that not everyone can manage the tires as skilfully as Eki [Mattias Ekström] and Mike [Rockenfeller]. Their stop on Lap 1 in Sunday's race worked out well for them. When Jamie [Green] tried something similar on Saturday, it was less successful.”

The next round of the DTM will be held June 16-18 at the Hungaroring, the twisty 4.381-km F1 track located near Budapest.