Mercedes driver Robert Wickens admits he threw away DTM title hopes
Mercedes' top driver in the DTM standings, Robert Wickens, says he threw away his title chances with a "stupid mistake" that put him to the back of the grid in Hungary
The Canadian went into Sunday's second race of the weekend 55 points behind championship leader Marco Wittmann, needing to reduce that gap below 50 to remain in title contention at next month's Hockenheim finale.
But Wickens, who qualified eighth at the Hungaroring on Sunday, was forced to start from the back of the grid after he lined up in the wrong slot at the end of the formation lap.
"I never thought today would turn out like it did in a million years," said Wickens, who recovered to 12th, which became 10th following exclusions for Wittmann and Daniel Juncadella post-race.
"I just made a stupid mistake, which I didn't notice so I had to line up last.
"I managed to fight my way up to P12, which would have been a decent performance under normal circumstances.
"But I threw away any mathematical chance I had of lifting the title by making one stupid mistake.
"That really racks me off big style."
Mercedes DTM boss Ulrich Fritz said the manufacturer had little to be happy about from the weekend.
"You can't really say too much about the situation at the start," he said.
"Obviously, that sort of thing shouldn't happen.
"It meant that we effectively ruled ourselves out of the drivers' championship today, and that's a real shame."
With the two Hockenheim races to go, the title race is between three drivers - BMW's Wittmann and Audi's Edoardo Mortara and Jamie Green.
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