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Toto Wolff has confirmed that Pascal Wehrlein will be a Mercedes "test driver" in 2018. Having debuted at Manor, the young German has now lost his race seat after his second season in F1 with Sauber.
But Wolff said recently that Wehrlein, 23, will continue to enjoy the backing of the Mercedes driver programme. And the Mercedes chief now tells Sport Bild: "We have supported Pascal since 2013 and he earned his chance in formula one after his DTM victory in 2015."
"After that, he experienced two not so easy years in formula one with Manor and Sauber. But we will keep him in our racing family in 2018 and also offer him a role as F1 test driver at Mercedes, to keep his door open to formula one for 2019," Wolff added. (GMM)
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
4 members have this team as their favourite
Replies (5)
Login to replyKean
Posts: 692
I wonder if he can find his way back in 2019? If there is movement in Force India, maybe he'll get a seat there, but he has already been rejected there once in favor of Ocon, with rumors saying the engineers at SFI didn't care much for working with Wehrlein. The other Mercedes powered team, Williams, seems like not an option. Haas expressed interest in him before signing Magnussen, but now with a possible tie up with Maserati that seems like a closed door as well.
krommenaas
Posts: 155
If a new team entered F1 right now, they could get Kvyat and Wehrlein almost for free. That would be a fast, experienced line-up, easily better than what Williams and Toro Rosso have.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Kvyat and Wehrlein would be a very stable lineup. Problem is that I dont see any new new teams entering any time soon, a takeover is more likely.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Even with a takeover i dont think they will get a ride, most teams already have good lineups, may be except for Williams.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Exactly, a new owner will probably prefer to keep some of the old lineup.