Nurburgring: Mercedes race notes

Victories for Adrian Sutil and Lewis Hamilton

The French ASM team's Dallara Mercedes drivers Adrian Sutil and Lewis Hamilton won the 13th and 14th rounds of the 2005 Formula 3 Euro Series at the Nürburgring. Sutil won on Saturday ahead of Manor Motorsport's Dallara Mercedes driver Lucas di Grassi and Kohei Hirate (Dallara-Opel). Hamilton won on Sunday ahead of Sebastian Vettel (Mücke Motorsport/Dallara Mercedes) and Sutil. The drivers with the Mercedes-Benz Formula 3 engine M271 developed from the production engine of the C- and E-Class have won 13 of 14 races of the season so far and achieved all 14 pole positions. Hamilton, who achieved ten of these 13 victories, leads the championship with 118 points ahead of Sutil with 81 points.

Result

Race 1: Starting fourth, Sutil took the lead at the first corner ahead of di Grassi and pole sitter di Resta and Lewis Hamilton who had a poor start from third on the grid. Fighting for third place, Hamilton tangled with di Resta exiting the Mercedes Arena. Both were able to resume at the back of the field and Hamilton eventually came home 12th. Di Resta made a pit stop so that the team could repair his damaged diffusor and ended up 21st. He posted the fastest lap of the race with a 1:23.147. Meanwhile Sutil led until the chequered flag holding off charging di Grassi who was just half a second behind. Hannes Neuhauser in the HBR Dallara Mercedes finished fourth and achieved his best Formula 3 result so far. Atila Abreu in a Mücke Motorsport Dallara Mercedes improved from 14th on the grid to seventh at the finish line.

Race 2: After the first corner Hamilton was in the lead ahead of Sutil. Sebastian Vettel (Mücke Motor sport/Dallara Mercedes) who had qualified fourth passed Marco Bonanomi (Dallara-Opel) on lap six to take third place. A little later rain began to fall. Sutil had a short off at the beginning of lap ten and lost second position to Vettel. After 21 laps, Hamilton won ahead of Vettel who achieved his best Formula 3 result. Sutil came home third. Pole Sitter di Grassi collided with his team mate di Resta at the first corner and retired with a damaged car. Di Resta resumed and improved to tenth when he slid off on lap ten, hit the tyre barrier and retired. Neuhauser finished 11th.

Adrian Sutil (ASM): "I'm happy about yesterday's victory, a good result particularly from fourth position on the grid. Today I pushed a little bit too hard in the rain, had a short off and lost second place. Nevertheless it has been a good weekend with 16 points for me."

Lewis Hamilton (ASM): "On Saturday I made a mistake when fighting with Paul di Resta and I apologize for the collision. Today I started better and extended my lead continuously despite the difficult conditions. After yesterday's 12th place the ten points I scored today were particularly important for me."

Race 1 - Pole Position: Paul di Resta, 1:22.463 - fastest lap: Paul di Resta, 1:23.147

Race 2 - Pole Position: Lucas di Grassi, 1:23.009 - fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, 1:22.744

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "Congratulations to the ASM team on two victories yesterday and today. Adrian Sutil on Saturday and Lewis Hamilton today drove two impressing races. Also Lucas di Grassi and Sebastian Vettel performed well with their second positions for teams Manor and Mücke."

-mbm-