Pascal Wehrlein has admitted he is disappointed to miss out on the vacant Force India seat for 2017.
With Nico Hulkenberg moving on to Renault for next year, an opening has arisen at the Mercedes customer team, but they have opted to sign the less experienced Ocon over his Mercedes junior counterpart Wehrlein.
"Toto (Wolff) called me," he said. "He said Force India chose Esteban and I will have to understand why that is or what I can improve from my side."
Wehrlein is now expected to stay with Manor for a second season, with the Haas refugee Esteban Gutierrez one of the names being linked with the team alongside him.
Wehrlein said in Brazil: "It is not the end of the world, it is a missed opportunity but I am happy to stay here and try to make another step next year."
Asked how he is coping with the news, Wehrlein said: "I have to deal with it.
"I can say something bad now but that will not help me. It has been coming for days and yesterday I got the confirmation and all I can do is wish Esteban all the best.
"I will now continue to show on the track what I have in me - this is a small step back but no more," he insisted.
Pascal Wehrlein: "All I can do is wish Esteban all the best"
- Published on 11 Nov 2016 10:12
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1
- By: Dominik Wilde
F1 News
Esteban Gutierrez
Susie Wolff
Pascal Wehrlein
Esteban Ocon
Force India
Renault
Mercedes
Manor Motorsport
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Driver profile
- Team -
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- Country MX
- Date of b. Aug 5 1991 (35)
- Place of b. Monterrey, MX
- Weight 63 kg
- Length 1.8 m
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Team profile
- Team name Force India
- Base Silverstone, India
- Sergio Perez 11
- Sergio Perez 11
- Nico Hülkenberg 12
- Adrian Sutil 14
- Adrian Sutil 15
- Lance Stroll 18
- Adrian Sutil 20
- Nico Hülkenberg 27
- Nico Hülkenberg 27
- Esteban Ocon 31
- Esteban Ocon 31
- 96,021 comments on Force India
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Better luck next time Wehrlein!