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aprile 19, 2017 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

Tales from the paddock – Paul Di Resta: “Driving these cars is great fun”

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

The new generation of cars has arrived! While the latest Formula One cars have already provided plenty of action in their first three races of the season, #pauldiresta is really looking forward to the DTM season with his new Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM.

  • This is what happened: Weekend results and facts
  • News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
  • Three questions forPaul Di Resta
  • Social media news: What’s new online?

This is what happened: Weekend’s results & facts

  • Formula One: Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas achieve a double podium for the Silver Arrows in Bahrain
  • Super Car Race Series: Two podiums for Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Motoharu Sato in their SLS AMG GT3 at the Fuji Speedway

Newssplitter

StatAttack – Bahrain GP: The third race weekend of the 2017 Formula One season was once again fiercely contested, and even in qualifying, just one second covered the Top Six. In the end, Valtteri Bottas secured his maiden pole position in Formula One – the first for a Finn since Heikki Kovalainen at Silverstone in 2008. This was the 49th pole position for a Finnish driver in a Formula One race. Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, Kovalainen and Valtteri achieved 39 of these poles between them powered by Mercedes. The gap between Valtteri's pole time and that of Lewis Hamilton in second place was just 0.023 seconds. Valtteri also posted the fastest lap time ever recorded in Formula One at the Bahrain International Circuit with a 1:28.769.

All-time records: In the race, Lewis and Valtteri secured the Silver Arrows' second double podium finish this season. Lewis stood on the podium for the 107th time in his F1 career. He is now in P2, one place up on Alain Prost in the standings for the most podiums ever achieved in F1. In the Bahrain Grand Prix, he also secured the fastest race lap for the 33rd time in his F1 career. Record Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher heads the standings in both these categories with 155 podiums and 77 fastest race laps.

Season opener: The FIA Formula 3 European Championship season began last weekend for Maximilian Günther, who is test and reserve driver for the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Team. The reigning Formula 3 European Championship runner-up finished on the podium in the first race and took P4 in the other two races, which put him in fourth place overall after the first race weekend of the season. "The points haul this first race weekend was good,” said Maximilian. #racing will continue for him in two weeks' time at the old-established track in Monza. “Monza is a huge challenge and incredibly good fun. What's more, it's a home race for the Prema guys, which will give me an extra dose of motivation to deliver top results!”

Exciting qualifying action at the Nürburgring: Drivers will come together this weekend for the 45th running of the ADAC Zurich 24‑hr race at the Nürburgring. Teams will use the ADAC qualifying race on 22nd/23rd April 2017 for final preparations before the endurance classic is staged at the end of May. This meeting will enable competitors to fine-tune their Mercedes-AMG GT3s and their procedures while spectators will get a foretaste of the season highlight taking place one month later (25th - 28th May). It goes without saying that Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Teams BLACK FALCON, HARIBO #racing Team and HTP Motorsport will also be there, #racing their Mercedes-AMG GT3s through the Green Hell in the Eifel.

Blancpain GT series in Monza: The Mercedes-AMG GT3 will face a further challenge in southern Europe when the second meeting of the 2017 Blancpain GT series gets under way with no less than 13 #racing cars from Affalterbach lining up at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italy). Teams fielded by AKPA ASP, BLACK FALCON, HTP Motorsport and ZAKSPEED will compete for points in the first endurance race of the Blancpain GT series following really fierce competition in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup in early April when Franck Perera & Maximilian Buhk secured two wins in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 prepared by HTP Motorsport.

Three questions for Paul Di Resta

Paul, you've now completed final testing in preparation for the season ahead. What surprised you most, both from a positive and negative point of view?

Paul Di Resta: The biggest surprise for me is how fast the new cars are. Lap times were much lower. Thanks to the new regulations, there's less downforce, but more power and tyres with more grip. Driving these cars is great fun, but looking after tyres is going to be a major challenge, for sure!

What was your first reaction to the new rule that fans can watch work being carried out in the pits?

Paul Di Resta: It's great for the fans. Just brilliant! Why shouldn't they get to see the cars from close up, plus, teams won't be able to hide themselves away so much either. The pits being open ensures that spectators can get much closer to the cars, the mechanics and drivers. It means that they can closely follow what's happening in the pits.

You posted the second-fastest time of the test week at Hockenheim. How does that make you feel now about the season opener?

Paul Di Resta: It was a very productive test. We collected plenty of data and can be confident about the future. Of course, things can change, but we are better prepared than we've been in a long time. Hopefully, we can be title contenders as a result. I'm going to focus on my training in the run-up to the start of the season. My goal is to be as fit as possible, but of course, I would also like to enjoy some time with my family before things finally get under way again. We've had a long break since October, so I'm now looking forward to the new season more and more with every day that passes.

Social Media News

NobodyWinsAlone: Team work has many layers, and they all build on each other. Find out more about the story behind our visual for the 2017 season from the #people at the heart of it.

Watch video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OayIr5MqgU

DTMCamp: Our mini series shows the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM drivers getting fit for the new season during the winter. In Part 1, we visit Edoardo Mortara at his home in Geneva and travel with him to the fitness camp at La Manga in Spain. The second part shows drivers at the camp being driven to the limit of what their bodies can stand...

Watch Part I: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_8ThpO_COs

Watch Part II: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vPw48IJQwU