David Schumacher’s first weekend as a DTM driver is behind him: The Mercedes-AMG driver analyses his debut in Portimao
David Schumacher came away empty-handed on his first DTM race weekend: The son of six-time Formula 1 race winner Ralf Schumacher leaves Portimao without points. But with a valuable lesson in his luggage.
“I have to say it’s very hot in the car. I really have to get used to it,” Schumacher admitted in an interview with ‘ran’ before Sunday’s race. No wonder, since Schumacher comes to the DTM from Formula racing.
He has already competed in GT3 races in the GTC this year. But Oschersleben cannot be compared to Portimao in terms of temperatures. It was warm at the Algarve rollercoaster on both race days: 25 degrees air and 40 degrees track temperature on Saturday, and 24 degrees air and 38 degrees track temperature on Sunday.
Conditions in which a closed racing car heats up much more. The performances shown, with 18th and 24th places in qualifying, and 20th and 15th in the races, gives confidence. “David gave us a lot of pleasure again today, he shows an impressive development curve,” praised Winward team boss Christian Hohenadel.
David Schumacher speculated on SC phase on Sunday
In Sunday’s race, Schumacher even got a taste of leading air for the first time in his still young DTM career. The Mercedes-AMG driver opted for a late pit stop strategy. This allowed Schumacher to complete his laps in free air. However, this did not give him any advantage.
Before the pit stop window opened on lap 6, he was in 16th position, and after everyone had completed their service, Schumacher was cruising around in P17. Although he benefited from Lucas Auer’s problems, Arjun Maini and Maximilian Buhk got past via the strategy. With the latter it became quite close.
David Schumacher tries to position himself in the … pic.twitter.com/N9tv7xc4A9
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Buhk pushed past without compromise into the second corner immediately after Schumacher’s pit stop. However, the rookie later overtook his Mercedes-AMG brand colleague again, as did Audi rookie Marius Zug, resulting in P15 in the end.
“We planned a late pit stop from the beginning, hoping to catch a safety car phase at the right moment to be able to attack with fresher tyres. The safety car didn’t come, but I was still really fast and had great duels. That was a lot of fun,” Schumacher summed up.
DTM rookie still struggling with the braking phase
On Saturday, however, Schumacher was one of the sufferers of the restart after the safety car phase: “The second start went completely wrong,” he reports. “At the exact moment when the car in front of me hit the brakes, I heard the command ‘green, green, green’ on the radio. There were three cars straight past. “
So, after the first race weekend, the realisation remains that Schumacher has one of the biggest racing names, but has yet to establish himself in the fiercely competitive DTM field. He hardly feels any pressure: “That was worse in Formula 3, I must say. But yes, I put most of the pressure on myself.”
And where does he still see the most potential? “I’m still a bit aggressive on the brakes. That’s the biggest problem, which I also use to destroy my front tyres in the race.” So it will take Schumacher a little while to get used to the ABS in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Another lesson he’s taking away from Portimao.
