Liam Lawson says a mistake from his end during a crucial pitstop cost him a shot at victory over the weekend.
In the second DTM race at Lausitzring, Lawson led for most of the first stint before the pitstop sequence.
The Red Bull Junior opted to stay out slightly longer than rival Kelvin van der Linde in the hope of an overcut and holding onto the lead.
However, Lawson stalled during his pitstop, which meant he re-emerged behind van der Linde.
Eventual race winner Maximilian Gotz would also get past Lawson to drop the Kiwi back to third.
Speaking with Autosport after the race, Lawson says that he would have been able to reclaim the race lead without the pitstop error.
That then would have placed him in the prime spot to claim his second win of the season.
“I was sitting there waiting to go, waiting to release the clutch. And just as the car dropped, I thought I released early, and I think that’s why we stalled the car.
“I think Alex [Albon] had a similar problem, so we need to look into it. Maybe we both did the same thing, or there’s some other issue.
“But from my side, I think it was my fault, so sorry to the team because it cost us the lead of the race.
“I can’t say whether I would have stayed there for the rest of the race or not, but definitely it wasn’t ideal for that part.”
Lawson would finish the race in second after a late mechanical drama for van der Linde.
He has now claimed three podiums from the first four races this season, putting him second in the driver’s standings.
“It’s been a very positive start to the season,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can carry this on.
“I think at the moment with the changes in Balance of Performance and things like this it’s going to be very up and down but eventually it will start to even out and we’ll start to see more consistent guys starting to stay at the top, but for now it’s been good.”
Lawson will head to the Zolder circuit in Belgium in two weeks for the third round of the championship.
