DTM
It was a strong showing from Liam Lawson and Alex Albon on their second DTM race weekend, as Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse left the Lausitzring with another pair of top 3 finishes.
The Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse team continues to enjoy success, as Liam Lawson claimed his third podium in the DTM, repeating Saturday's second place while his team-mate Alex Albon came home fifth and 11th at the 4.570km Lausitzring circuit.
The key for both drivers in Saturday's race was to keep calm. Starting from fifth (Lawson) and seventh (Albon) on the grid, they kept their Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020s clear of the turmoil in the first half of the race, before gaining ground after their pit stops. Red Bull Junior Team driver Lawson was rewarded for his flawless performance with second place and Albon gained two positions over the course of the race to cross the line in fifth.
Sunday began promisingly again, with an impressive second place in qualifying for Lawson. Red Bull Racing F1 test driver Albon was less than three-tenths of a second slower, but had to settle for 13th place in the evenly-matched DTM field. Lawson led the race briefly, before eventually finishing runner-up.
"It’s great that we were able to score a lot of points in both races," said Lawson. "After the start I thought we might have the chance to score our second win, but then I stalled the car at the pit stop. I'm sorry for the team. The key in Saturday's race was the super-fast pit stop performed by the team. That put me back in the leading group and allowed me to finish right at the front. It was fantastic to race on this layout, even if it didn't necessarily suit our car."
Albon came home 11th, having again made up two places over the course of race two. "This definitely wasn't an easy weekend for us," he said. "When we had clean air ahead of us, the pace was there, but it was a real challenge in traffic. In the opening race, I was basically running fifth for the whole race. It wasn't really possible to overtake. In race two, the pit stop didn’t go according to plan."
Lawson is now second in the DTM Drivers' Championship with 65 points and Albon is fifth on 31 points. Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse top the Team standings with 96 points after four races. Next in the 2021 DTM season is Zolder, Belgium on August 6–8, 2021.
DTM Lausitzring Round 2: Race 1 results
- Philip Ellis (SUI) – Mercedes-AMG Team Winward
- Liam Lawson (NZL) – Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse
- Mike Rockenfeller (GER) – Team ABT Sportsline
- Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) – Team ABT Sportsline
- Alex Albon (THA) – Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse
DTM Lausitzring Round 2: Race 2 results
- Maximilian Götz (GER) – Mercedes-AMG Team HRT
- Liam Lawson (NZL) – Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse
- Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) – Team Abt Sportsline
- Philip Ellis (SUI) – Mercedes-AMG Team Winward
- Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) – ROWE Racing