The opening race of the final weekend of the 2021 DTM season brought Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse its first title in the series, thanks to Liam Lawson’s third place and Nick Cassidy’s fifth. This important podium brings Lawson, the leader of the provisional standings, closer to the drivers’ title that will be decided tomorrow. We heard from the some of the Ferraristi at the end of the race.
Liam Lawson: "It’s nice to be able to stretch in the standings even though we wanted to collect as many points as possible, and finishing first would have been better. The race was crazy, the start was unbelievable, and I still find it hard to believe that Van der Linde tried to squeeze through because I was going into the turn, but I saw the Audi come in on the inside... I think he felt he had to try everything. From then on, it wasn’t easy. The pit stop went well, and the guys were great as usual. Nick [Cassidy, Ed] was a big help to me when he came out of the pits because Kelvin was recovering really fast. I’m delighted with today’s race. The championship is not decided yet. We need to be focused and have another good qualifying tomorrow. We know we have a good car, but also ballast due to the result, so today it was essential to score points. Tomorrow we will give everything to try to win the title".
Nick Cassidy: "In the race, I found the pace I didn’t have in qualifying, which didn’t allow me to start where I wanted to. After a while, the front tyre and brake temperatures rose, and it wasn’t easy. I have nothing to prove this weekend other than helping the team win the title".
Antonello Coletta, Head of Attività Sportive GT: "We are happy to have won a DTM title for the first time at the end of a really interesting season for us. This is a highly spectacular series, and AF Corse has shown that it can step into a new environment with its usual professionalism and competitiveness. We are satisfied with today’s result, but we are ambitious, so we remain focused and motivated to complete a great year with tomorrow’s race".
Amato Ferrari: "It’s been an exciting season, with one last piece still missing, which we hope to add tomorrow to make it unique. This fantastic programme was created very close to the season’s start. However, since the successful debut on our home circuit, we have shown that the synergy between Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse and Ferrari is competitive and can be rewarding for everyone. We can only be happy to have won the team title even if our efforts focus on the main objective in tomorrow’s race’s, the drivers’ championship with Liam Lawson".