Winkelhock: F1 was great, but that's it.

Markus Winkelhock has admitted that his Formula 1 career is unlikely to extend to a second race as he continues to remain focused on his career in the DTM.

The German took his place in the F1 record books on his grand prix debut last season after being called into the Spyker line-up to replace Christijan Albers at the Nurburgring.

Markus Winkelhock (GER) Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team F8-V11, European F1 Grand Prix, Nurburg
Markus Winkelhock (GER) Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team F8-V11,…
© Peter Fox

Markus Winkelhock has admitted that his Formula 1 career is unlikely to extend to a second race as he continues to remain focused on his career in the DTM.

The German took his place in the F1 record books on his grand prix debut last season after being called into the Spyker line-up to replace Christijan Albers at the Nurburgring.

The 28-year-old - son of the late F1 racer Manfred Winkelhock - was called into his home event as a one off following Alber's departure thanks to his role at a Spyker test driver but looked set to struggle when he qualified at the back of the grid, well off the pace of the rest of the field.

However, the team's decision to start him from the pit-lane on wet tyres when rain started falling ahead of the race meant that Winkelhock led in the early stages as others were forced to dive into the pits.

After seeing his moment of glory end when the race was halted to allow conditions to improve - and then when he was forced to retire from the restart - Winkelhock was then forced to hand the drive over to Sakon Yamamoto for the remainder of the campaign with the Japanese driver bringing the funding required to secure the seat.

Winkelhock then returned to the DTM, where he competes this season for the Audi Sport Team Rosberg outfit, and he admitted that while he enjoyed his brief flirtation with an F1 race seat, he knows it probably won't come around again.

"It was a great experience, but I am a realist," he told Spox.com. "The DTM is what I am concentrating on for the future. Formula one, for me, is over.

"I am not really too sad about it and I am happy with my situation now. With the experiences and the race I had in Formula One, of course it is nice to look back, but with Audi in DTM, I'm happier than I was in F1 last year."

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