Tales from the paddock – Ulrich Fritz: “We want to pull off the treble – and that includes the drivers’ title”

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport clinched two of the three titles in the 2018 DTM season at Spielberg. Team boss Ulrich Fritz reflects on the race weekend and tells us about the work that has to be done between now and the grand finale.

• This is what happened: Results and facts
• News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Teams
• Three questions for Ulrich Fritz
• Social media news: What’s new online?

This is what happened: Results and facts

• DTM: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport wins the manufacturers’ and team titles with races to spare
• DTM: Only four points separate Paul Di Resta and Gary Paffett going into the closing fixture of the season at Hockenheim
• ADAC GT Masters: Indy Dontje and Maximilian Buhk (Mercedes-AMG GT3) on the podium in the grand finale at Hockenheim
• ADAC GT Masters: MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport win the team championship
• VLN: Hubert Haupt, Manuel Metzger and Maro Engel triumph on the Nordschleife
• Formula 3 European Championship: On the Spielberg weekend, Mick Schumacher makes it 500 victories for Mercedes power in Formula 3

News snippets

Russia, here we come: Next weekend, Sochi will be hosting the Russian Grand Prix for the fifth time. The Sochi Autodrom has so far been a happy hunting ground for the team from Brackley, who have won all four races so far staged there. The first two were won by Lewis Hamilton (2014, 2015), followed by one victory each for Nico Rosberg (2016) and Valtteri Bottas (2017); the win for the Finn was his first in Formula 1. The Silver Arrows also have a formidable record in qualifying at the venue where the 2014 Winter Olympics were staged: Lewis secured pole in the debut year while Nico was fastest in the 2015 and 2016 qualis.

Stat-Attack – Spielberg: No Mercedes-AMG Motorsport driver had made it onto the podium at Spielberg since 2015, but that was to change last weekend. As in Race 2 in 2015, it was Gary Paffett who lifted a trophy on Sunday. Although the team yet again came away without a race win and had only the one podium finish to celebrate in Austria, there were nonetheless two causes for satisfaction as well as a number of reasons to step up the work rate ahead of the season finale at Hockenheim. While the situation in the drivers’ championship remains tight, with only four points separating Paul Di Resta and Gary Paffett ahead of the final weekend, a couple of matters were settled at Spielberg: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport has won both the team and the manufacturers’