Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Tales from the paddock – Gary Paffett: You’re overtaking four or five cars per lap. You don’t get that in any other series
agosto 03, 2016 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

Tales from the paddock – Gary Paffett: You’re overtaking four or five cars per lap. You don’t get that in any other series

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

After winning their home race at Hockenheim, the Silver Arrows team are off for a short summer break. Meanwhile, the trio of Rosenqvist, van der Zande and Vautier were rolling up the field from behind at Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian Ardennes.

  • This is what happened: Weekend’s results & facts
  • News from the #mercedesamg motorsport teams
  • Three questions for Gary Paffett
  • Three questions for Felix Rosenqvist
  • Social media news: What’s new online?

What happened: Results & facts

  • Formula 1: Win for Lewis Hamilton in Silver Arrows’ home race at Hockenheim
  • Formula 1: Lewis extends his lead over Nico in the drivers’ championship to 19 points; Mercedes AMG Petronas 159 points ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship
  • 24 Hours of Spa: Felix Rosenqvist, Renger van der Zande and Tristan Vautier finish as runners-up after starting from P15

News snippets

StatAttack: Home race for the Silver Arrows at the Hockenheimring. Nico was aiming to repeat his win in the equivalent fixture last time Germany hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix. On Saturday, he secured the 27th pole position of his Formula 1 career and his second at Hockenheim. Lewis started alongside to make it a front row lockout. This was the 300th and the 301st time that two Mercedes-AMG-powered cars had qualified for the front of the grid. On Sunday, Lewis registered his 49th Grand Prix win, his second at the Hockenheimring and his sixth of the current campaign. This means that Lewis has not only won four races in succession but all four Grands Prix in the month of June – Austria, Great Britain, Hungary and Germany.

Linkin Park rocks the racetracks: An action-packed weekend for the stars of world-famous rock band Linkin Park. Chester Bennington, Dave Farrell and Joe Hahn first went to Spa-Francorchamps where they had a special interest in the 24-hour race: one of the #mercedesamg GT3 cars competing there had a livery designed by the band. Driving it were Yelmer Buurman, Maro Engel and Bernd Schneider. From Spa, the band members proceeded to Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix, where they were rooting for the Silver Arrows team. In June of this year, Linkin Park supplied the perfect musical backing for the launch of the #mercedesamg GT R with ‘Papercut’, a track from their ‘Hybrid Theory’ album.

Watch video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwsaAu2NL6Q

Three questions for Gary Paffett

Gary, what a dramatic debut 24-hour race for you! First the cancellation of the qualifying result, then an incredible fight-back and finally a drive‑through penalty which cost you a podium appearance. What were your personal impressions?

Gary Paffett: It was an incredible race. I don’t think it was what you could call a ‘normal’ 24 Hours of Spa. It was amazing to see our speed, then to get the penalty, to start from so far back and to get ourselves within reach of a podium, just one and a half laps adrift. And then all the drama of the final half-hour in which we were hit with a penalty and missed out on the podium. It was like a rollercoaster ride. Just unbelievable.

Have you any plans for another venture into GT racing?

Gary Paffett: Going into the weekend, I was thinking about it, but now it’s over, I’m 100% convinced that I want to come back and compete in more races! Of course, it’s a bit different: the cars aren’t quite up the level of the #dtm. But with a field of 65 cars, you’re overtaking four or five of them on each lap. It’s absolutely incredible. You won’t see anything like it in any other #racing series.

There are still three weeks until the #dtm arrives in Moscow. How will you be using the time in between?

Gary Paffett: I’m going to spend the time with my family. Because after getting back from Zandvoort, I was immediately involved in preparations for Spa. Now I can enjoy the summer with my family and recuperate.

Three questions for Felix Rosenqvist

Felix, you finished second in the 24-hour race at Spa after a spectacular catch-up chase. Could you please tell us in your own words how the weekend went for you?

Felix Rosenqvist: I think that the chemistry between the drivers, mechanics and engineers in the team was really good. After the penalty, we were one lap back in the early stages of the race. At that moment, we said: “Okay, we’ll do our job as best we can and see how far we get. Let’s just have fun without feeling under any pressure.” Then, in the end, we found ourselves standing on the podium. That was a great job by everyone in our AKKA-ASP team and the guys at AMG who supported us. A really fantastic race!

A lot of drivers have problems when they switch from single-seater to GT #racing. That doesn’t seem to apply in your case. So what’s the secret?

Felix Rosenqvist: I have a huge passion for motor #racing and especially for driving. I am always interested in learning how to drive all kinds of cars, preferably as quickly as possible. You can learn something every time you climb into a cockpit. The more cars you drive, the more complete a driver you become.

This year, you’re competing in the Blancpain GT Series and the Indy Lights. You’re also the substitute driver for the #mercedesamg #dtm Team. Where do you see your future at the moment?

Felix Rosenqvist: It is still too early to discuss that. For a long time, my goal has been to drive in the #dtm. I have been working in partnership with #mercedesamg for many years now, and I’m closer than ever before to achieving that. Let’s see what happens in the next few months. At the moment, I’m totally focused on competing in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup.

Social Media News

Insights into strategy: What a home race that was for the Silver Arrows at Hockenheim! Chief race engineer Andrew Shovlin explains the key strategic decisions taken during the 2016 German Grand Prix. Here is all the relevant information about tyre choices, pit stops and penalties. Further insights are available on the Pure Pit Wall: http://purefla.sh/29ROTTj

Watch video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T6Z3E3f5ZQ

TweetTalk with Daniel Juncadella (Part 1): In the run-up to the #dtm race weekend at Zandvoort, followers of the #mercedesamg #dtm Team on Twitter were invited to submit questions to Daniel Juncadella. Here are his answers to the fans:

Watch video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-V_B-CMMZo 

Monster hunt: The Pokémon GO craze even extends to the #dtm. Race Hub TV presenter Thore Schölermann and Maro Engel went on a superior monster hunt – at the wheel of the ‎EURONICS #mercedesamg C 63 S Coupé TrendCar.

Watch video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDF_W9yVDz8

 

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