Bittersweet second place for Lawson at Lausitzring

Excitement swirled at the Lausitzring as the second weekend of the DTM season came to a close, with Liam Lawson’s Ferrari taking second place and Alex Albon’s eleventh.

Passes. Today’s result comes with its share of regrets for the New Zealander of Red Bull AF Corse. After a splendid passing move on the outside of poleman Ellis, Lawson took the lead and exploited the car’s potential. Lap by lap, he gradually built up a two-second advantage over Kelvin van der Linde who, in the meantime, had overcome the Mercedes driver, moving up behind the Ferrari man. After a tough qualifying session, Alex Albon attempted a challenging comeback, first passing Müller and then Rockenfeller for eleventh. The Thai pitted on lap seven, followed two laps later by his teammate.

Twists and turns. The AF Corse mechanics’ pit stops were again lightning-fast, but Lawson stalled the 488 GT3 Evo 2020's engine and returned to the track third, behind Kevin van der Linde and Maximilian Götz. In the middle of the pack, Albon fought a great duel with Maini, getting the better of the Mercedes driver with a perfect passing move at Turn 2, while race leader van der Linde’s car suddenly slowed down on the return straight, leaving the way clear for the German and the New Zealander. The championship leader’s Audi recovered its pace and got back into Lawson’s slipstream. Despite van der Linde’s insistent pressing and the 15hp loss due to the Balance of Performance, Lawson neatly fended him off to cross the line in second place. However, Albon struggled to stay in the top ten, ending the fifty-five minute and one-lap race in eleventh place. The Balance of Performance differential with his rivals severely hampered the AlphaTauri AF Corse driver from attacking or defending himself.

Standings. These results compact the championship table with Lawson in second place on 65, just four lengths behind Kelvin van der Linde, while Albon is fifth on 31 points. The next round of the German series will run in Zolder, Belgium, from 6 to 8 August.