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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said that Pascal Wehrlein will remain part of the Mercedes family after losing a drive in F1 for 2018. The German failed to hold onto a seat at Sauber, as the Swiss team brought in 2017 Formula 2 champion Charles Leclerc.
Sauber also stuck with Marcus Ericsson for a fourth year, whose backers have a large influence on the team. Wehrlein, who joined the Mercedes programme in 2014, will still be a part of the team according to Wolff. While it's believed that Wehrlein will make a return to DTM, Wolff claims Wehrlein is worthy of a drive in F1.
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"Pascal definitely deserves a place in Formula 1 and is certainly one of the fastest drivers," Wolff told Autosport. "At the moment it looks a little bit bitter as far as the available [race] driver seats are concerned. But he's definitely going to be on our team. [It is unclear] whether or not he actively participates in a racing series other than Formula 1. He will definitely remain part of our squad."
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Replies (2)
Login to replyOrchide
Posts: 82
Well, if you rate him so high. Give him a Mercedes seat then...
boudy
Posts: 1,168
ooh dear. Guess his performance levels aren't high enough for Mercedes. The fact that he did not get the Merc drive tells all other teams not to bother. But not all drivers can hack it in F1. If only they had an development team ... so why didn't he go to Williams for an deal on the engines?