PdR:
I think it’s a great series. The DTM car is great to drive and it’s very high-profile now – I think it’s as close as anything to
Formula One as far as publicity goes. It’s a good stepping-stone. I think it would be great to go and do, and I don’t think it would do my career any harm. I think it’s only going to improve me as a driver.
Q:
And as drivers like Gary Paffett have shown, it’s not really a barrier to getting into Formula One either, is it?
PdR:
No. A lot of people have been through the DTM, and hopefully I will go through as well. We will just have to wait and see.
Q:
So an announcement fairly soon possibly?
PdR:
I certainly hope so. I want to get on with things, but Mercedes have told me to trust them and that’s what I am doing. I’m 100 per cent behind them.
Q:
Back at the start of your career you competed in and won the JICA class of the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow series (then McLaren-Mercedes Champions of the Future) in 1998. How good a grounding did that give you in the sport?
PdR:
Karting is the first steeping-stone for anyone if they are going to be successful in motor racing. It was great fun. You start out when you are young and the competition is always going to be there. It’s always hard whatever people say, but without karting I don’t think I would have got as high as I am now.
