Mercedes protégés "extraordinary" - Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff has heaped praise on Mercedes junior drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon following their maiden Formula One campaign.

Wehrlein started the season with Manor after winning the DTM title in 2015, while Ocon joined the team halfway through the season after he too spent time racing in DTM following an impressive apprenticeship in junior formulae.

"These two are extraordinary drivers out of a handful of drivers I consider to be in the same league," Wolff told Autosport. "They’ve had two very different careers; one went into DTM and the other had an exceptional career in lower formula and GP3."

"From my perspective, they are both very different personalities and very equal in the race car. Both deserve to stay in Formula One and have a future."

Ocon will move to Force India next season to replace Renault-bound Nico Hulkenberg while Wehrlein's future is less certain.

He is expected to leave Manor, with Sauber favourites to sign him, despite their lack of customer deal with Mercedes.

Wehrlein was thought to be in line for a seat at Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton, replacing the retiring Nico Rosberg but that spot is now expected to go to Williams' Valtteri Bottas.

Replies (1)

Login to reply
  • Toto you are full of bull****!
    If you are so fond of Wehrlein, then put him beside Hamilton and stop all the speculations.
    You don't do that because you just are not so sure of Wehrlein's qualities and the Worldchampionship for teams and a lot of money is at stake.

    • + 0
    • Dec 29 2016 - 12:03

AZ Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

AZAzerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

Test calendar

See full test schedule

World Championship standings 2025

Show full world champion standings

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2026

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2026

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Country Finland
  • Date of b. Aug 28 1989 (36)
  • Place of b. Nastola, Finland
  • Weight 70 kg
  • Length 1.73 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar