Aston Martin: Wittmann showed Habsburg's inexperience on tyres
R-Motorsport Aston Martin team principal Florian Kamelger says Misano race-winner Marco Wittmann demonstrated Ferdinand Habsburg's DTM inexperience, after the rookie fell down the order late on due to tyre wear
Both Wittmann and Habsburg opted for a first-lap pitstop at Misano, despite the fact the high-speed circuit and hot conditions meant that tyre wear was a concern.
Joel Eriksson causing a safety car early on meant the two drivers effectively gained 50 seconds on their rivals who had yet to stop due to the long Misano pitlane.
But while Wittmann managed his tyres across 38 laps to record victory by 8.2s over Audi's Rene Rast, Habsburg plummeted from second to 14th in the final laps.
Kamelger praised Habsburg's performance considering Mugello's high-speed nature exposed Aston's current power weakness.
"It's [Aston Martin's race] a bit bittersweet as Ferdinand's pace was really promising, and it is important for him himself, that he could show in clean air he was very good in his pace," Kamelger told Autosport.
"Obviously, tyre management is something young drivers have to learn as well.
"Marco Wittmann has been here for quite some time and he could show the tyre management can be different [for a rookie to understand].
"Overall, this is the situation we are at at the moment. We can surprise, we can show we are good at strategy."
When Kamelger's comments were put to Habsburg by Autosport, the R-Motorsport driver said: "Certainly, there's no doubt about it [in terms of inexperience], but let's not forget the pace [BMW are] pulling per lap.
"It has a huge effect, I'm trying to scramble for points - how hard do I push, where to take risks.
"I have to [take] risks [with] the pushing I'm doing just to see maybe if the tyre stays on better than I would have predicted.
"If I just try to drive to what I think the limit is and I have tyre left and I'm still 14th at the end - then I've wasted a race."
Habsburg also pointed to the fact that the safety car led to the DTM adding an extra two laps to the race distance, which he believed cost him a chance at scoring points.
Wittmann added that starting 18th meant the first-lap pitstop made a strategic gamble an easy decision to make.
He then added: "We knew before the race that it would be a tricky one to run through all the race with the same tyres and we were unsure if we could make it, to be honest.
"With the safety car and the luck we had today, it helped us a lot.
"I would say the last five or six laps they were very tricky for me.
"I had a lot of vibrations in the car, I had no more tyres left, and the threat of a tyre puncture or failure was there at the end."
Audi questions safety car call that cost it Misano DTM win
Misano DTM: Rast seals clean sweep of poles as Dovizioso crashes
Teenager Oeverhaus to become youngest DTM driver at Nurburgring
Theo Oeverhaus will become the youngest driver to race in the DTM when the 17-year-old makes his series debut at the Nurburgring later this month with the Walkenhorst BMW team.
Can the DTM’s reigning champion turn around his sluggish title defence?
With 67 fewer points and 14 positions lower in the standings than at the equivalent point last year, Maximilian Gotz has had a tough start to his DTM season. The Mercedes driver explains his struggles, and how he’s going about addressing them
DTM evaluating adding Nurburgring Nordschleife to 2023 calendar
The DTM is believed to be considering a return to the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife as early as 2023, but it must overcome several hurdles to make the race a reality.
How Audi DTM heavyweights Rast and Muller compare
The GT3-based DTM is a different proposition to the Class 1 era that ended in 2020, but Audi’s top protagonists remain the same. Rivals Rene Rast and Nico Muller have now swapped teams, making their Team Rosberg and Abt engineers uniquely qualified to reveal what makes the pair tick
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
His day of days in Formula 1 came at Indianapolis in 2005, a day grand prix racing strives to forget. But Patrick Friesacher, the long-serving Red Bull lieutenant, remains active today driving a two-seater that provides ordinary people with a glimpse of an F1 car’s savage potential, including this writer...
How the DTM has come back stronger from its Norisring nadir
OPINION: Questionable driving standards and farcical team orders meant the DTM's first season under GT3 regulations ended under a cloud. But the organisation has responded firmly by banning team orders and welcomed new manufacturers, making for an intriguing season ahead as new and returning names prepare for battle
The remarkable career of a 'classy' champion who rejected politics
Over two decades as a factory driver with Audi and BMW, Martin Tomczyk earned the respect of team-mates and rivals as a hard but fair racer. After calling time on his racing career, the 2011 DTM champion sat down with Autosport to look back
The other Hamilton conqueror seeking career revival
On his rise through the ranks before reaching Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton was usually a cut above the rest. But he never truly asserted himself over a Mercedes-backed fellow Briton who traded single-seaters for touring cars and is now seeking new opportunities after a year largely spent on the sidelines
How the DTM's shambolic finale poses awkward future questions
OPINION: The scenes at the Norisring as Mercedes used blatant team orders to secure the first DTM title of the new GT3 era totally undermined the credibility of the championship. But as well as overshadowing the season, it also presents uncomfortable questions to series bosses about the direction it is headed in
How Audi's new DTM star is channeling Rast to achieve his "childhood dream"
Having learned the ropes in GT3 alongside Rene Rast, Kelvin van der Linde is in line to take up the three-time champion's baton as Audi's new DTM king. From humble origins in South Africa, it's been a remarkable journey so far for the current series leader, but he knows that the 2021 title is a long way from settled just yet
The number-crunching behind the new-look DTM's equalisation drive
Switching to GT3 regulations marked a fresh start for the DTM in 2021, but it has also drawn a line in the sand against other series using similar cars by engaging AVL Racing to develop a bespoke Balance of Performance system. Here’s how it works
The initial verdict on DTM's move to GT3 cars
OPINION: Facing collapse last year, the DTM has shifted its philosophy from a championship for silhouette-based touring cars to GT machines not too dissimilar to those racing across multiple series worldwide. But despite some initial BoP-based teething troubles, there were some pleasant findings as the 'new DTM' got underway at Monza