Edoardo Mortara: “This is a very special victory”

Edoardo Mortara felt relieved after scoring an important victory at the Lausitzring today, the first since his move to Mercedes at the end of 2016.

The Italian had a difficult season last year, mainly adapting to Mercedes AMG’s philosophy after six seasons at Audi Sport, only managing a podium and finishing the season in 14th place.

“This is a very special victory for me, my first with Mercedes,” said Mortara. “We’ve struggled a lot last year, but this season, things are going a lot better for me, and I’ve at last been able to secure this victory.”

Mortara qualified in seventh position for today’s grid and a late stop strategy allowed the Mercedes driver to jump ahead of all the drivers fighting ahead of him, to take the first win of the season.

“We had a great strategy today. The car was good and the pit stop was superb too,” added the Italian. “I’m really ecstatic after this victory. My start was not perfect and the first laps were a bit difficult, but after that, everything went really well.”

BMW’s Timo Glock continues to lead the championship with 62 points, 17 ahead of Mercedes’ Gary Paffett, who only managed ninth today. Mortara is third, 25 points behind Glock

Mercedes AMG placed five cars in the top ten, increasing their lead in the manufacturers’ championship with 157 points, 32 ahead of BMW and 118 over Audi.

Ulrich Fritz, Mercedes AMG DTM boss, said: “First and foremost, what really matters today is that René is OK. Congratulations to Edo on his first victory with Mercedes. He has worked hard for this and fully deserves it. It was obviously a tempestuous race today with a lot happening. Congratulations to the team!”