Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) books P4 at season finale in Hockenheim
gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG wins DTM team championship
Mercedes-Benz are most successful marque ever in the DTM, having secured 10 drivers’ titles, 13 team and six manufacturers’ titles
Paul Di Resta: “We’ve won the drivers’ and team titles. I’m proud to be a member of this team.”
The Mercedes-AMG DTM Team has rounded off the season in style. After Pascal Wehrlein (gooix Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) wrapped up the drivers’ title on Saturday, gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG claimed the top spot in the DTM team championship in Sunday’s final race.
Wehrlein and his team-mate Christian Vietoris (Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) finished on a joint score of 225 points, enough to take their team to the title by a margin of 19 points.
Mercedes-Benz is the most successful brand in the history of the internationally popular touring car series, having secured ten drivers’, 13 team and six manufacturers’ titles in all.
Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) booked P4 in the last race of the season at the Hockenheimring. Gary Paffett (EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) in P9 also achieved a points-scoring finish.
Daniel Juncadella (PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) took the chequered flag in P12. Maximilian Götz (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM), Robert Wickens (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) and Lucas Auer (BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) placed 13th, 18th and 19th respectively.
Christian Vietoris (Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) retired after a collision.
The new DTM champion Pascal Wehrlein (gooix Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) came 20th in the final race of his championship season. The youngest DTM champion in the history of the series celebrated his 21st birthday on Sunday.
Twenty-four hours earlier, he clinched the championship title with a P8 finish in the first of the weekend’s two races.
The next event: On 12th December, Mercedes-Benz will be staging its traditional end of season Stars & Cars show, this time at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart.
Among the prominent guests will be Silver Arrows stars Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as well as all eight drivers of the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team.
Comments after the race
Paul Di Resta (29, Scotland):
P4
Car number: 3
Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM
“I have to be relatively happy with the result. Audi were in a class of their own today, but we’ve won the drivers’ and team championships and I’m proud to be a member of this team. Well done, guys. Now the hard work begins all over again. We finished on a high, and I’m very confident that we will be in the title hunt next year. Now I’m going to enjoy this winter break and hope to come back a bit stronger.”
Gary Paffett (34, England):
P9
Car number: 2
Team: EURONICS/BWT Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team ART)
Car: EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM
“I got off to a really good start from pole position and managed to pull out a bit of a lead on the first lap. But after that, I was simply struggling for grip. The car was sliding about a lot, which meant I wasn’t able to match the other guys for pace. I think that we had problems getting the tyres up to temperature with it being so cool today. This season has had its ups and downs, but unfortunately there have been too many downs. We certainly had the potential, though. We now need to try and come back next year so we get the maximum out of the situation more often.”
Daniel Juncadella (24, Spain):
P12
Car number: 12
Team: PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team Mücke)
Car: PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM
“The race was a lot of fun. My start was very good – I actually gained three positions before the first corner. Unfortunately, the rest of the first lap didn’t go too well for me, and I lost a lot of places. But after that, my pace was really good, and I moved up to finish in twelfth.”Es
Maximilian Götz (29, Germany):
P13
Car number: 84
Team: PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team Mücke)
Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM
“First of all, a big thank you to Mercedes-Benz, MV Agusta and Mücke Motorsport for a great season. It was a super rookie year, really good, a dream come true. I’m very proud to be part of the team and have enjoyed the season immensely. Unfortunately, my race today was still not quite the best. I had a bad start and was a bit unlucky on the first lap, but my race pace was good. I was able to overtake really well. Overall, I’m very happy with my first year in the DTM.”
Robert Wickens (26, Canada):
P18
Car number: 6
Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM
“Not how I wanted to finish the season. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck in the second half of the year. Anything that could go wrong went wrong, and today was a perfect example of that. We had a decent start, and I was running in a good position to possibly score points. But my DRS was out of action, which made the race very tough for me. Blomqvist braked too late a couple of laps before the pit stops and ran into the back of me in Turn 6. That damaged my car and ruined my race. Not what the team deserved, but hopefully, we can come back stronger.”
Lucas Auer (21, Austria):
P19
Car number: 22
Team: EURONICS/BWT Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team ART)
Car: BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM
“My start and first lap were very good, but then we had problems, unfortunately, which we’ll have to analyze. The speed just wasn’t there. We must now look into what caused it.”
Pascal Wehrlein (21, Germany):
P20
Car number: 94
Team: gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: gooix Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM
“The race didn’t go quite as well as I would have liked. But fortunately, it didn’t have any effect on the outcome of the championship. Right up to the end, I was trying to push and get nearer the front. But it was impossible because my car was too severely damaged. I’d like to thank my team once again for all their excellent work during the year. After winning the drivers’ title yesterday, taking the team championship today is the icing on the cake. Thanks a lot, guys!”
Christian Vietoris (26, Germany):
retired
Car number: 8
Team: gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM
“Unfortunately, that turned out to be a short grand finale for me. I think Molina misbraked and drove into my car. As a result, I lost control and spun into Tambay. This weekend has sadly been a microcosm of the whole season for me. Anyway, I’m hoping for a better 2016.”
Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM:
“Congratulations to Team gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG on winning the team standings – another reason to celebrate after clinching the drivers’ title yesterday. I also want to congratulate Paul Di Resta on a strong performance this weekend with two fourth places. It was great that Pascal finished the race despite a badly damaged car. He had no intentions of giving up and took the chequered flag in the last race of the season for the fans.”
Race results: Top Ten
Drivers‘ Championship
Manufacturers‘ Championship
Teams‘ Championship
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