The Mercedes-AMG DTM team today (Thursday, 26 January) announced its 2017 DTM driver line up, with its fleet of six cars set to be driven by Gary Paffett (GBR), Lucas Auer (AUT), Paul Di Resta (GBR), Robert Wickens (CAN), Maro Engel (GER) and Edoardo Mortara (ITA) during the up-coming campaign. Felix Rosenqvist will not form part of the squad’s DTM programme in 2017 due to clashing commitments in the FIA Formula E Championship.
COMMENTS
Felix Rosenqvist
”I really enjoyed racing in the DTM with Mercedes last year, and I learned a lot about how to deal with the pressure that comes with representing a top-line manufacturer. It’s a fantastic championship, but at the end of the day it just wasn’t possible to combine it with Formula E this year, which is obviously a shame. I’ve had a strong start to the season with Mahindra; I’m currently fourth in the standings and we’ve been putting a lot of effort into the development of our package. It’s impossible to say how we’ll fare now that we get to circuits that the others know, but we are in a good position and we’re working flat out to try and get our first win. That requires my full attention at the moment.”
Ulrich Fritz, head of Mercedes-AMG DTM
”Felix impressed us very much last year and we would have loved to work with him again in the DTM this season. Given his successful first couple of races in Formula E, however, and the fact he could well end up being a championship contender, we have decided together that it doesn’t make sense to race in both series this year. We will continue to follow Felix closely and wish him all the best.”