Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Tales from the paddock - Ulrich Fritz: "The team coped incredibly well with this Herculean task"
ottobre 19, 2016 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

Tales from the paddock - Ulrich Fritz: "The team coped incredibly well with this Herculean task"

Onto the home straight: After the grand finale of the 2016 DTM in Hockenheim, we're immediately off to North America for back-to-back Formula 1 races in the USA and Mexico.

  • This is what happened: Weekend's results & facts
  • News from the Mercedes-AMG motorsport teams
  • Three questions for Ulrich Fritz
  • Social media news: What's new online?
  • This week's important dates and events

This is what happened: Weekend's results & facts

  • DTM: Christian Vietoris and Paul Di Resta secure a double podium in the last race of the season at Hockenheim
  • 24H Epilog Brno: P2 for the Hofor #racing squad of Roland Eggimann, Christiaan Frankenhout, Kenneth Heyer, Chantal Kroll and Michael Kroll driving an SLS AMG GT3
  • 24H Series: Hofor #racing win both the drivers' and team titles in the GT and A6 classifications
  • FIA Formula 3 European Championship: Lance Stroll wins all three races in the season finale at Hockenheim, simultaneously scoring the 250th victory for the Mercedes-AMG F3 engine in this series or in one of its predecessors

News snippets 
 
StatAttack - Austin: After winning the constructors' championship in Japan, the team will now be focusing fully on the driver's title; since Suzuka, this can only be won by either Nico Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton. Four races, one world championship: the title chase continues on the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, a track that has been a happy hunting ground for Lewis Hamilton over the past few years. "I love the country, the culture, the #people and the track," says Lewis, for whom the USA is now a second home. The reigning champion has won three of the four races so far staged on the still relatively new circuit in Austin. Furthermore, he also triumphed in the last US Grand Prix in Indianapolis back in 2007. Last year, Hamilton won his third world championship title in the USA with races to spare. This year, however, Austin will not be deciding the outcome. Nico Rosberg goes into the fourth-to-last race weekend of the 2016 campaign 33 points ahead. The current world championship leader has already demonstrated how fast he can be on this particular track: he secured the last two pole positions and also posted the fastest race lap there in 2015. 
 
This was 2016: The 2016 DTM season came to an end last weekend with a podium success for the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team. Robert Wickens got the season off to a great start with P2 in the curtain-raiser, while Christian Vietoris and Paul Di Resta brought it to a satisfactory conclusion with a joint podium appearance in the final race. "A double podium at the end of the season - that's precisely what we had hoped for," said Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM #ulrichfritz. The Mercedes-AMG DTM drivers made 15 podium appearances between them during the 2016 DTM season, including four victories achieved by three different winners. In the 18 races during the 2016 campaign, five different drivers made it onto the podium: Robert Wickens (five times), Paul di Resta (four times), Lucas Auer (twice), Christian Vietoris (twice) and Gary Paffett (twice). In the rain-affected Saturday race in Moscow, the first four places were monopolised by Mercedes-AMG DTM drivers. Lucas Auer entered the record books as the first Austrian winner in the history of the DTM, scoring a maiden series win at the Lausitzring. 
 
Online champion crowned: Eight gamers, eight DTM pros, one objective: to win the final of the Mercedes-AMG Online Race Competition. As a side-show to the DTM finale at Hockenheim, the eight top contestants in the online competition pitted their skills against those of the eight Mercedes-AMG DTM drivers on Friday evening. And what a final it was! The 20-minute race thrilled the spectators in the Mercedes-Benz Hospitality Suite with wheel-to-wheel action, the occasional excursion into the gravel and a proud winner... 

Three questions for Ulrich Fritz 
 
Uli, the 2016 season has come to an end. How would you sum it up? 
Ulrich Fritz: "It was certainly a season of mixed feelings. Although we didn't win any of the titles, I'm incredibly proud of the team's performance. This year, we sent our Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM into action with its new contours, but we were not allowed to change anything below the design line. To prepare a competitive car under these constraints was a Herculean task with which the team coped incredibly well. Looking at the weight-adjusted times over the season, we actually had the fastest vehicle in the field on many of the tracks." 
 
What was the highlight of your season? 
Ulrich Fritz: "In addition to the team performance, which I've already mentioned, and our car, I would single out the two races in Moscow, the Saturday race at Zandvoort and the victory for Lucas at the Lausitzring. Moscow and Zandvoort were both tracks where we have never looked particularly good in the past. But then you get this quadruple victory in Moscow under difficult conditions in the rain - that was really satisfying. The win for Lucas at the Lausitzring was definitely one of the most emotional moments. It was also a maiden victory for Peter Mücke and his team in the DTM. It was fabulous to see how happy the guys were." 
 
Why did you miss out on all of the titles this year? 
Ulrich Fritz: "Of course, a lot of different factors always play a role here. Maybe it was just one of those years when luck was not on our side. Rob lost a lot of points at the Norisring and Zandvoort through no fault of his own. Nevertheless, we were in a good position right up to the Nürburgring. But there, the difference between our cars was simply too big. Lucas secured pole for both races, but the others couldn't match him for pace. When we were then obliged to carry the performance weights, it was clear to us that we would come away from Budapest empty-handed, and that's the way it turned out. Basically, it was down to a string of unfortunate coincidences. But when I see how motivated the team remains in spite of all these setbacks and how much they are already looking forward to the new season, I am confident that we will come back even stronger next year. A perfect example of our teammorale was the last race in Hockenheim. On Saturday, we were nowhere, and yet the guys managed overnight to prepare a car for our drivers with which they were able to score a double podium. Hats off to them, I say."