Max Verstappen's driver Thierry Vermeulen lost a possible DTM victory on the Sachsenring after a mechanic left a tyre on the bottom within the pit lane to regulate his glasses, earning him a long-lap penalty.
Emil Frey’s driver Vermeulen dominated the race within the second stage of the weekend, pipping Kelvin van der Linde for pole position in qualifying before constructing a three-second lead early within the race.
After a security automotive neutralised the sphere with slightly below half-hour to go, the Dutch driver rebuilt a bonus of just about two seconds over the chasing group led by Mercedes driver Luka Stolz, but was soon handed a penalty lap for a breach of pit stop regulations.
Coming into the long loop between Turns 1 and a pair of, the 22-year-old dropped to 3rd behind eventual winner Stolz and driver Abt van der Linde, ending his hopes of a maiden DTM victory.
The penalty was also painful for the Ferrari team, which had a superb probability of achieving a rare one-two on the Sachsenring after Jack Aitken's success in the primary race on Saturday.
Emil Frey's head of engineering, Jurg Flach, has revealed the strange reason why the penalty was awarded to the team.
“During a pit stop, the person who mounts the steering wheel must always have at least one hand on the wheel,” he explained in an interview with Motorsport.com, a sister title of Motorsport-Total.com. “Because he needed to readjust his glasses, that wasn’t the case for some time.
“He knows exactly what he did and would rather hide under a rock” [in embarrassment].
“Anyone who stops at the pits knows that [rule]. There is no explanation [that] He doesn't know.”
The camera footage revealed that the mechanic in query entered the pit lane much later than the remaining of the team and placed the tyre on his foot. It took him just a few seconds to get his hands on the tyres again.
For safety reasons, tires should be checked by mechanics when entering the fast lane to forestall accidents.
This shouldn’t be a brand new rule within the series, as Thomas Preining lost the victory attributable to an identical mistake by his Manthey EMA team in Oschersleben last 12 months.
The impact of a long-lap penalty that cost him five seconds was made much more severe by the proven fact that the protection automotive, which was called out following an incident involving three drivers – Rene Rast, Jordan Pepper and Marco Wittmann – worn out any advantage he had managed to accumulate following the pit stop.
“Otherwise he would probably have finished at least second, despite the penalty lap,” said Flach. “That wasn't in our favour either. I'm very sorry for Thierry. It was his race.”
After serving his penalty, Vermeulen tried his best to overtake van der Linde's Audi but ultimately needed to accept third place.
Although he didn’t take victory, it was still his first podium finish within the DTM since his debut in 2023.
“At that point you’re just trying to get on the podium,” he said. “The lap before the penalty lap was like a qualifying lap for me. I gave it every part I had, nevertheless it wasn’t enough to remain in second place and even win.
Thierry Vermeulen, Emil Frey Racing
Photo: Alexander Trienitz
“There was a lot worn rubber next to the racing line that it was a lap or two before I even considered following Kelvin.
“You win and you lose together, but it really hurts. I have to get this in, at least for a few hours.”
