Robert Wickens (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) and Gary Paffett (EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) complete the podium in P2 and P3

Nuremberg, Germany- Mercedes-AMG DTM driver Pascal Wehrlein (gooix Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) won the DTM season highlight at the Norisring. Fellow Mercedes drivers Robert Wickens (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM), Gary Paffett (EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) and Christian Vietoris (Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) gave the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team a one-two-three-four victory by coming home directly behind him.

This was Wehrlein's second victory in the internationally popular touring car series. He took his maiden win at the Lausitzring last year, becoming the youngest winner in DTM history. His success in Nuremberg was the 13th victory for Mercedes at the Norisring since 2003. Since that year, a Mercedes driver has finished as the best-placed driver at the Bavarian street circuit in every single year.

The fifth race of the 2015 season got under way on a wet track after a shower just before the start. Wehrlein went straight out on slicks, unlike Wickens, Paffett and Vietoris. His fellow Mercedes drivers bolted on wet-weather tyres. That enabled them to pull out a lead which they used mid-way through the race to switch to slicks.

Daniel Juncadella (PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) finished tenth, likewise in the points. DTM rookie Lucas Auer (BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) crossed the line in 15th. Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) retired shortly after switching from wet to dry tyres after contact with another car on lap 18. Maximilian Götz (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) also had to withdraw from the race with a gearbox problem.

Looking ahead to race 2: Qualifying for the second race at the Norisring will be held on Sunday at 11:40 (live on www.sportschau.de/dtm). The sixth race of the season starts at 15:18 (live on ARD at 15:00). The new DTM Race Hub at www.mercedes.me/racehubdtm provides fan radio, live timing data and live commentary during qualifying and during the race itself.

Comments after the Race  

Pascal Wehrlein (20, Germany):
P1
Car number: 94
Team: gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: gooix Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"A tough race, but a super result for the team and me. My engineers made the right call to send me out on slicks to begin with. Both strategies worked well in the end, even if my tyres degraded a bit more, as I'd been running them right from the start. It was very tricky initially to keep the car on track on the slicks. It's very easy to make mistakes on a street circuit like this, then your race is over. And so, the race was fairly exciting, particularly at the start. Robert and Gary were a little faster towards the end. Consequently, it was important not to make any errors, otherwise they would have had me."  

Robert Wickens (26, Canada):
P2
Car number: 6
Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"Our strategy was good today. We were taking a very big risk, going out on slicks. Our goal here was to take as many points as possible. And we succeeded. Plus, we secured the top four places for Mercedes, which is a great result. Pascal especially did a great job on slicks. Congratulations"  

Gary Paffett (34, England):
P3
Car number: 2
Team: EURONICS/BWT Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team ART)
Car: EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"A podium is, of course, a great result for our team. When you start from second place, then naturally, you want to win the race. The weather conditions were not easy today. The team did a super job, though, and made the right calls. We were faster towards the end, which enabled us to take third place. This 1-2-3-4 victory is a great result for our team."  

Christian Vietoris (26, Germany):
P4
Car number: 8
Team: gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"It was a really cool way to start the day, qualifying for pole position. With the weather being so changeable, the team did a super job and sent me out onto the track at just the right time. This was the first pole for Mercedes in the current season, which is a positive development. Obviously, I can't be satisfied with the way the race turned out, having dropped back from first to fourth. It would have been nice to finish on the podium, but ultimately we're all working towards a common goal. We're one team and we help each other out." 

Daniel Juncadella (24, Spain):
P10
Car number: 12
Team: PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team Mücke)
Car: PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"The race went OK from my perspective. Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to do any better. At the start, the going was good on the rain tyres, but as the track got drier, it was difficult to defend the position. Consequently, we had to make a pit stop and change to slicks. Overall, the race went quite well, but my car was set up more for wet weather. That's why I was a bit slower on the straights than the opposition, which then made it more difficult for me to overtake the other cars. Tenth place earns me a championship point, but I'm just as delighted about my team-mates taking positions one to four. That's a top result."  

Lucas Auer (20, Austria):
P15
Car number: 22
Team: EURONICS/BWT Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team ART)
Car: BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"Congratulations to everyone at Mercedes on finishing in the first four positions. What a superb team effort! My race was OK. We had the correct strategy going into the race on slicks. Unfortunately, I got boxed in on the first corner. After that, it was a case of picking off the field from the rear. Consequently, P15 was the best I could have hoped for."  

Paul Di Resta (29, Scotland):
retired
Car number: 3
Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"Disappointing, obviously, not to finish the race and to be taken out in a strong position. But we had a bad pit stop, lost a bit of time and, unfortunately, came out of the pits in front of Spengler and Green. Jamie clearly made contact with me in Turn 2, and that's two years in a row now that I've been taken out in a strong position."  

Maximilian Götz (29, Germany):
retired
Car number: 84
Team: PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team Mücke)
Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"My start was okay. I drove a bit defensively in the first turn, because I didn't want to take any risks. It was the right decision to start on slicks. That put us well up front. Then, unfortunately, I had a gearbox issue. At the time, I was faster than the cars in front of me. Now we need to analyse exactly what caused the problem. It's a shame, but the only thing left to do was to park up. That was, of course, a great pity, particularly here in my home race."  

Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM:

"This is, of course, a splendid result for Mercedes-Benz, taking the top four slots. Both the team and the drivers did a terrific job today and laid the foundation for this success. But we must not rest on our laurels. Tomorrow is another day and another race."  

Canadians In BOLD