Marco Wittmann: “The restart played into our hands”
BMW Motorsport’s Marco Wittmann claimed his first win of the season at the Hungaroring in a race marked by the red flag caused by the pit lane incidents, leading a 1-2-3 result that allowed BMW to recover from yesterday’s disastrous result.
Wittmann was only able to qualify in 14th position for today’s race. The two-time champion pitted as the rain started falling over the Hungaroring on lap five of the race.
“My team brought me in for my tyre change on the right lap when it started to rain and the conditions were deteriorating. My team pulled off a masterstroke with the timing of the pit stop. In the end, the race suspension and the re-start played into our hands. To score 25 points from 14th on the grid today, after yesterday’s result, is mega.”
The Team RMG driver was concerned about the pit lane incidents that marked the race: “The pit lane was very slippery. I too went slightly too far. I saw photos and videos of the accidents afterwards. That obviously takes the shine off the win.”
Bruno Spengler was one of the drivers involved in the many incidents in the pits as the downpour came: “First of all, I would like to apologise to my mechanic. Although I was already driving much slower than usual, the wheels locked. As a result, I could not avoid hitting him. I am very sorry. Fortunately, nothing serious happened. We should probably have come in a lap earlier and switched to wet-weather tyres. Maybe the pit lane would have been drier then too.”
The Team RBM mechanic only suffered a bruised foot, according to BMW Motorsport’s own doctor.
Timo Glock finished second from eighth on the grid, regaining the championship lead from Mercedes’ Gary Paffett, who had a disastrous race. Glock paid tribute to the marshals injured in today’s incidents: “I hope the marshal, who is here as a volunteer and a big motorsport fan, recovers quickly. The same goes for everyone involved. That kind of thing is particularly tragic, and nobody wants to see bystanders get hurt.”
Glock has 90 points in the lead of the drivers’ championship, 11 ahead of Paffett and 23 over Mercedes’ Paul di Resta. In the manufacturers’ table, Mercedes still leads on 297 points, with BMW Motorsport reducing the gap to just 57 points. Audi Sport is a distant third on 105 points.
The next round of the season takes place on the 22nd to 24th of June at the Norisring.
