Last summer, Mercedes surprised everyone by announcing its intention to withdraw from the DTM series. But before it calls it quits on Germany’s popular touring-car championship, it’s waging one final campaign – and that got off to a difficult start this weekend at Vallelunga.
With the regulations modified for the season ahead, Mercedes has had to update its C63 DTM, with most of the changes concerning its aero package.
As we saw on rival BMW’s new M4 DTM, the latest crop of tin-top racers will have to do with less downforce in 2018. This is due to the simplified side channels, removed side plates, fewer front aero flicks and a simpler suspension setup.
The changes will place higher demands on the drivers – plus, Merc’s factory drivers faced some difficulties in familiarizing themselves with the new setup at the Italian circuit this weekend as heavy rain gave way to snow.
“We can count ourselves lucky to have had such good weather yesterday,” said 2005 champ Gary Paffett, who topped the time sheets after completing 119 laps in the dry on Friday. “This year, there have been some big changes to the aerodynamic parts of the car, and there are also more standard parts. This should hopefully help to level the playing field – although that’s sometimes hard to imagine, with things being so tight in the DTM.”
Things didn’t go as smoothly for Lucas Auer, who crashed the car in the wet, thereby preventing the third driver, Pascal Wehrlein, from doing his stint The 2015 series champion returns to DTM this season after losing his F1 ride with Sauber.
![](https://www.carscoops.com/wp-content/themes/carscoops/assets/images/icons/arrow.png"){kind=icon}