Pascal Wehrlein

29th July 202429th July 2024

Formula E Season 10 Finale: Wehrlein snatches the Drivers Championship from Jaguar’s Kiwis at nail biting finale

Formula E Season 10 concluded this past weekend and it is fair to say that it went down to the wire. Ultimately, Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein claimed his maiden FE title of the series, beating both Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans.

Race 1

Mitch Evans led the field away from Sebastian Buemi in P2 and Pascal Wehrlein in P3.
Robin Frijns and Jake Dennis had a lap 1 accident and the safety car was deployed.
By the time the safety car came in on lap 4, Cassidy made up two places after a terrible qualifying and Nico Mueller had a puncture so he went into the pits.
Two incidents occurred at once as former champion Dennis and Jean-Eric Vergne came together, whilst Oliver Rowland took Antonio Felix Da Costa out of title contention.
Evans and Buemi battle for the lead on lap 14.
Cassidy and Stoffel Vandoorne had a coming together but the Kiwi ended up
Wehrlein took the lead on lap 22 and he managed to take both attack modes and stay P1 while Max Guenther was battling Evans for P2.
Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz ended up colliding bringing out another safety car.
After we went green, Wehrlein went for the lead as did Guenther but he had a gearbox failure and had to stop on track from P2, bringing out a full course yellow.
Wehrlein managed to hold on and take the win from Evans in P2, Buemi claimed P3, with Nyck De Vries P4 and Edo Mortara in P5. Mueller took P6 ahead of Cassidy P7. Bird finished P8 ahead of Vandoorne and Nato snatched the final point.

Race 2:

Championship hopeful Cassidy claimed pole position after missing FP3 with a BBW failure.
Evans made it a Jaguar 1-2 on lap 2, until Mortara and Dennis made contact bringing the safety car. However, he was soon disposed.
Bird, Nato, Dan Ticktum and Jehan Daruvala are all involved in an incident, which brings out the safety car. Daruvala and Bird collided and collected both Nato and Ticktum.
Cassidy stays in lead after taking his attack mode, but Evans is not going to give up the championship without a fight and he soon retakes the lead.
Wehrlein begins to pile the pressure on the Jaguars ahead, nipping past Cassidy in his quest for the title.
Dennis got a 5 second time penalty for that collision with Mortara, however it could turn into a grid drop for Brazil.
Evans and Wehrlein made contact but attack mode still had to be taken.
Da Costa and Guenther had a battle which allowed the German up to P6.
Disaster struck for Cassidy as he got a puncture from Da Costa, ending his title hopes and bringing out the safety car.
Rowland snatched the lead from Evans and Wehrlein, as Evans missed attack mode.
Three added laps due to the safety car, however, Evans was in a position that he could not attack the leaders as he had to ensure his attack mode was used up before the end of the race.
As Rowland took the win, it was Pascal Wehrlein, snatching P2, who became the ABB FIA Formula E World Champion!
Evans finished in P3 which sealed Jaguar the manufacturer’s championship.

Position	Driver	Team	Points
1st	Pascal Wehrlein	Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team	198
2nd	Mitch Evans	Jaguar TCS Racing	192
3rd	Nick Cassidy	Jaguar TCS Racing	176
4th	Oliver Rowland	Nissan Formula E Team	156
5th	Jean-Eric Vergne	DS Penske	139
6th	Antonio Felix Da Costa	Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team	134
7th	Jake Dennis	Andretti Formula E	122
8th	Maximilian Guenther	Maserarti MSG Racing	73
9th	Robin Frijns	Envision Racing	66
10th	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Pesnske	61
11th	Sebastian Buemi	Envision Racing	53
12th	Nico Muller	Abt Cupra	52
13th	Sam Bird	Neom McLaren Formula E Team	48
14th	Jake Hughes	Neom McLaren Formula E Team	48
15th	Norman Nato	Andretti Formula E	47
16th	Edoardo Mortara	Mahindra Racing	29
17th	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan Formula E Team	26
18th	Nyck De Vries	Mahindra Racing	18
19th	Dan Ticktum	ERT Formula E Team	12
20th	Sergio Sette Camara	ERT Formula E Team	11
21st	Jehan Daruvala	Maserati MSG Racing	8
22nd	Taylor Banard	Neom McLaren Formula E Team	5
23rd	Lucas Di Grassi	Abt Cupra Formula E Team	4
24th	Joel Eriksson	Envision Racing	2
25th	Sheldon Van Der Linde	Abt Cupra Formula E Team	0
26th	Jordan King	Mahindra Racing	0
27th	Paul Aron	Envision Racing	0
28th	Caio Collet	Nissan Formula E Team	0

14th January 2024

Formula E Season 10 Round 1 Mexico City E-Prix: Wehrlein Takes A Commanding Win after Securing Pole

Pascal Wehrlein secured the victory after starting on pole position for the first round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship to kickstart his championship challenge earlier on.

The electric series, in its tenth year got off to an explosive start, with the opening taking place in Mexico, a venue that has been used since the series infancy. Before the action even started, there was already some pre-race drama as Sergio Sette Camara’s ERT was withdrawn from competition due to a technical issue. And the drama didn’t stop there. Stoffel Vandoorne, Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy all received a one place grid penalty due to not following red flag procedures in FP1.

After the drama, Formula E went green for the first time this year. It was a clean start for everyone through the first few corners with Dennis making his way up the grid after his disaster in qualifying. Di Grassi was the first victim in Mexico. Due to a brake issue, he hit the barrier and stopped on track, he managed to limp back to the pits and retire from the race.

Lucas di Grassi, ABT CUPRA Formula E Team, M9Electro Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Da Costa and Mueller had an incident a few laps later which resulted in the Porsche driver retiring from the race as he ended up in the wall after an ambitious move on the Abt driver. The incident was investigated after the race and Da Costa received a three place grid penalty for the next race. Everyone seemed to settle into the race, until more drama reared up, but this time from the steward’s room. Race control stated that three drivers were under investigation: the Andretti pair of Jake Dennis and Norman Nato and more critically, race leader Pascal Wehrlein. There was no further investigation for Nato but Wehrlein and Dennis were investigated after the race but both also received no further investigation from the stewards.

Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

The returning Envision Racing driver of Robin Frijns crashed at turn thirteen, just at the exit of the stadium arena. This resulted in a full course yellow and the safety car made it’s first appearance this season. Frijns managed to walk away on his own accord. It then emerged that Frijns had an issue with his car before the race so this could have been a factor in his crash. Before the race was declared green again, man of the drivers had attack mode remaining, including Buemi who was currently sitting in P2. Behind him, Guenther, Evans, Hughes, Dennis, Bird, Fenestraz, De Vries and Daruvala all had one attack mode remaining . The Season 7 champion Nyck De Vries had fallen down the pack at this point and was holding up Ticktum, Daruvala and Mueller, whilst current champion Dennis had a relatively quiet race.

The highlight in the latter stages was certainly the battle between Jean-Eric Vergne and Mitch Evans. They were having a fight of their own, as the Jaguar driver had to hold off the constant attacks from the two time world champion. It was first blood to Evans as he managed to pull a consistent gap of five tenths as energy conservation began to bite. Ticktum also struggled, falling back dramatically due to his overspending of energy earlier on in the race. Two additional laps were added to the end of the race due to the safety car earlier for the Frijns shunt. However, these did not stop Wehrlein as he held onto the lead and claimed victory in the Mexico City E-Prix for the second time. Envision Racing’s Sebastian Buemi finished P2, with championship contender Nick Cassidy taking the final podium. Maximilian Guenther finished P4 with Mitch Evans just holding off Jean-Eric Vergne for P5, Jake Hughes took P7 ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in P8, current world champion Jake Dennis had to settle for P9 whilst Norman Nato rounded out the top ten.

Formula E returns in a few weeks with a double header in Diriyah!

28th January 2023

Formula E Diriyah E Prix Race 2-Wehrlein Makes it 2 for 2

Image courtesy of Formula E RIYADH STREET CIRCUIT, SAUDI ARABIA – JANUARY 28: Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar

Qualifying

This session started with Jake Hughes, Sebastian Buemi, Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Dennis getting through from Group A. Both Nio cars of Dan Ticktum and Sergio Sette Camara got knocked out which came as a shock given their past history of qualifying. Pascal Wehrlein, Rene Rast, Eduardo Mortara and Mitch Evans went through from Group B.

Vandoorne and Buemi went head to head for the first quarter final with the reigning world champion being knocked out of the duels by Buemi.

It was Jake Hughes VS Jake Dennis for the second quarter final of the day with Hughes having the advantage over Dennis to win the battle.

Wehrlein and Rast went against each other for the third quarter final which saw Rast take a surprise victory over the German.

Mortara and Evans lined up for the final quarter final of the weekend with Evans just taking victory.

Buemi and Hughes had deja vu as they went head to head for the second time this weekend. However, Hughes got his revenge from yesterday with him getting victory over the world champion.

Evans and Rast went head to head for the final semi final of the weekend with Evans catching Rast after an early lead from the McLaren driver. Evans went through to the finals.

It was Hughes vs Evans for the final duel of the weekend with Hughes taking victory and taking his first pole in his third race of his Formula E career.

Jake Hughes gets his first Formula E Pole Position. Credit: Formula E.

Race

We went racing in Diriyah and Evans made the most of the situation. He overtook Hughes into turn 1 and maintained the lead throughout the early laps. By lap 9, Evans went for an early 3 minute attack mode. Hughes responded to this by taking attack mode on the next lap but only for 2 minutes. This risk did not pay off early on, however, as he came out behind Evans. Rast then goes for the attack and manages to stay ahead. Wehrlein went on a charge after starting P5 and got up to P3 by lap 12 with 3% more energy than his counterparts in the grid. It only took him until the next lap to get Evans for P2.

Further down the field, on lap 21, Dennis got Mortara as he also made a charge through the field. Things went from bad to worse for Mortara as Bird also got him. Within the next few laps, Dennis continued his charge as by lap 24, he gets up to P2 with him wanting to charge down Wehrlein. On lap 27, Muller hit the wall in the chicane and that brought out the safety car. It neutralised the race which helped the top few drivers. By lap 31, the safety car came in and the top 3 were pushing from that moment on. Lap 33 saw Dennis, Bird and Evans all go for attack mode but the McLarens got in between them. Bird was going to attack Rast but he went wide into turn 18 and Rast managed to keep P3. On the last lap, Evans and Hughes were both fighting but Hughes ran out of energy on the line. However, Evans pushed him and Buemi managed to overtake Evans due to Hughes holding him up.

Wehrlein took the win in Diriyah to make it a double header, double win. Dennis made it 2 for 2 for P2 in Saudi Arabia with Rast taking McLaren’s first podium in Formula E. Bird finished P4 ahead of Hughes and Buemi in P5 and P6. Evans finished P7 with Fenestraz taking their first points in Formula E. Mortara picked up Maserati’s first points of the season in P9 and Ticktum picked up the final points paying position in P10.

13th August 202113th August 2021

Formula E Berlin Eprix Weekend Preview: Championship Wide Open

image courtesy of Formula E

The sun is beginning to set on another enthralling season of Formula E as the championship heads to Berlin with 18 drivers still in championship contention.

Formula E returns to the Berlin Tempelhof Airport for its season finale this weekend as both teams and constructors titles are still wide open. It will be the 6th time the all electric racing series has visited the airport, with the circuit making its debut in 2015, albeit with a different layout. With just 10 turns and only 2.4km long, the current layout was first used in 2017 and has since become a staple of the Formula E calendar.

This year, however, there is a slight change to the weekend. Following last year’s successful running of 3 different layouts, the second race will be run in reverse, with work needing to be done overnight to ensure that the barriers are all correctly positioned for the new design. The reverse loop was trialed in 2020 as part of the series’ unprecedented 6 races in 9 days season finale.

A staggering 18 drivers and 10 teams come in to the weekend able to win the championships, as Mercedes EQ driver Nyck De Vries edges out Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns by just 6 points. A whopping 29 points is available for each of the two races so it really is all to play for.

In the teams championship, Envision Virgin lead Mercedes EQ by just 7 points. Jaguar are a mere 2 points further back.

Audi in particular will look to end the season strong as they say goodbye to the series. Created by Hans Jurgen Abt, the German team were among the first to enter the series back in Season 1. Despite some name changes along the way they have become one of the most successful and iconic teams the sport has ever had, finally winning the constructors championship in Season 4 (the 2017/18 season) with their drivers Lucas Di Grassi and Daniel Abt.

With the departure of Audi, we may also see the departure of their star driver Lucas Di Grassi. Di Grassi has driven every race for the German team since Formula E’s inception, and he has become one of the sports best ever drivers. From the very first race Di Grassi had etched his name into the history books, capitalizing on a collision between Nico Prost and Nick Hiedfeld to win the inaugural race. He then followed this win up a few years later with a Season 3 title win. Lucas himself is confident of remaining in the series next year, with rumors circling that he may take Norman Nato’s Venturi seat. However, if Formula E has taught us anything, it’s that this series is never predictable, so a Di Grassi exit cannot be ruled out.

Prior to this weekend it was also announced that several drivers will remain with their teams for next season, whilst BMW will also (sort of) leave the sport. Both Porsche drivers, Pascal Wehrlein and Andre Lotterer will continue with the German outfit, and Robin Frijns will still race for Envision Virgin. BMWi Andretti’s Jake Dennis will also remain at the team as it changes its name to Andretti Autosport. BMW will continue to supply the powertrains however.

It’s set to be a weekend of both firsts and lasts in Berlin and with both championships still wide open, you’d be a fool to miss it.

29th July 2019

How Hockenheim affects the F1 driver market

With the summer break just around the corner, the German Grand Prix was always going to be a key race for those drivers chasing new contracts for 2020. And when the rain came down on race day, the crazy conditions allowed some to shine and left others dreadfully exposed.

Pierre Gasly

Mark Thompson, Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Already under pressure just to keep his Red Bull seat for the rest of this year, Pierre Gasly’s German Grand Prix was a nightmare he just didn’t need. After starting the weekend with a chassis-wrecking shunt in FP2, Gasly then spent most of the race once again mired in the midfield pack, before retiring in ignominious fashion after rear-ending (ironically, some might say) Alex Albon’s Toro Rosso.

With his teammate again excelling across the weekend to take Red Bull’s second victory of the season, Hockenheim might just be the final nail in the coffin for Gasly.

Daniil Kvyat

Peter Fox, Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Gasly’s error-strewn weekend was bad enough by itself, without Daniil Kvyat putting in arguably the drive of his career to steal an unlikely third place for Toro Rosso.

Helmut Marko was quick after the race to say Kvyat’s podium didn’t guarantee him Gasly’s seat for the rest of the year—after all, a podium wasn’t enough to keep Kvyat himself in that seat back in 2016. But even if Red Bull don’t give him another chance at the senior team, Kvyat’s Hockenheim performance will have certainly raised his stock ahead of a potential midfield reshuffle.

Valtteri Bottas

Toto Wolff said at the start of the German Grand Prix weekend that Valtteri Bottas needed “two solid performances in Hockenheim and Budapest” to be sure of a contract extension for 2020.

Judging by Wolff’s table-banging and audible cry of “Damn it, Valtteri!” as Bottas spun into the wall on lap 56, the Finn’s chances of keeping his seat from Esteban Ocon have been considerably reduced. Add to that his lacklustre early race pace and qualifying defeat by both Max Verstappen and an unwell Lewis Hamilton, and this becomes a very costly weekend for Bottas’s future.

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen

Gunther Steiner was visibly furious with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen after they hit each other late on at Hockenheim, just one race after taking each other out on the first lap at Silverstone.

A driver change now looks like a certainty, though whether Steiner and Gene Haas have enough patience left to wait until 2020 is still up for debate. If not, Ferrari simulator driver Pascal Wehrlein is thought to be the most likely to slot into one of the cars after the summer break.

25th July 201925th July 2019

2020 F1 driver market preview

Now that the 2019 F1 Championship is nearing its summer break, the traditional driver market rumours have started coming in thick and fast. To help sort the bluff from the believable, we’ve identified five key hotspots in this year’s silly season.

Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon is expected to be the driver market’s dominant figure this year. Although his chances of a 2020 Mercedes drive have been slashed by Valtteri Bottas’ run of improved form, there is no shortage of teams to which the Frenchman has been linked.

If Mercedes were to release Ocon as they did Pascal Wehrlein last year, then he could prove the keystone for the midfield shuffle. Renault and Haas especially are known to be interested in a free Ocon, and both teams have drivers out of contract.

Sebastian Vettel

Although Sebastian Vettel has a contract with Ferrari for 2020, his distance from the title, infamous disagreements with the stewards and the rise of Charles Leclerc have all left him openly questioning whether F1 is still the place he wants to be.

At the moment Vettel is still expected to at least see out his contract rather than walk away early. But if he does call time on his F1 career this season, the most likely candidate to take his seat is thought to be Bottas or Daniel Ricciardo.

Nico Hülkenberg

Nico Hülkenberg might have scored more than half of Renault’s total points since he joined them in 2017, but that hasn’t stopped team reportedly eyeing up Ocon for his seat next year.

If Hülkenberg were to lose his Renault drive, his only alternative on the 2020 grid would be a sideways move to Haas, Racing Point or Alfa Romeo. However, after nine seasons mired in the midfield he may decide to take his considerable talent to a more competitive series—Formula E, perhaps, or returning to Le Mans with Aston Martin’s hypercar entry.

Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean is another driver under pressure from Ocon, with one wild silly season story claiming Haas were even trying to swap the two Frenchmen around for this weekend’s German Grand Prix.

But while that particular rumour has come to nothing, it is true that Grosjean is facing a lot of competition for his seat—not just from Ocon, but also Hülkenberg, Sergio Pérez and now-Ferrari development driver Wehrlein. Whether Grosjean remains on the F1 grid at all next year remains to be seen, with his best option likely swapping seats with Pérez and joining Racing Point.

Nicholas Latifi

Joe Portlock, LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship

There isn’t much space for new young drivers on the 2020 grid, but Formula 2 frontrunner Nicholas Latifi already has his feet under the table with a Williams reserve role. If Williams and Robert Kubica decide to part company at the end of a frustrating year for both parties, Latifi is next in line to replace the Pole.

Latifi has also been linked with Racing Point, forming an all-Canadian lineup with Lance Stroll should Pérez move on to Haas. However, Ocon is a much more likely alternative at present, given his fruitful past relationship with the team and his friendship with Stroll.

4th February 2019

Wehrlein and Hartley named as Ferrari simulator drivers

Former F1 drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Brendon Hartley have been named as Ferrari’s new simulator drivers alongside Davide Rigon and Antonio Fuoco.

Brendon Hartley raced for Toro Rosso in the last four races of 2017 and for the whole of 2018 before being unceremoniously dropped from their line-up. In 2019, alongside his role in the Ferrari simulator, he will once again make up part of Porsche’s factory driver program, with a potential return to the World Endurance Championship – where he won the LMP1 title in 2015 and 2017 – on the cards.

Wehrlein last competed in F1 in 2017 for the Sauber team, and now races for Mahindra in Formula E. Rumours had linked him with Ferrari ever since it was announced that the ties between himself and Mercedes had been cut in September of last year.

Pascal Wehrlein (D), Sauber F1 Team.
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

As mentioned, the pair will join Davide Rigon and Antonio Fuoco at the Scuderia. Rigon has worked in the Ferrari simulator since 2014, whilst Fuoco has long been a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and took part in F2 last year.

Speaking of the signings, team principal Mattia Binotto said, “Our team has taken on four undoubtedly talented drivers, who possess innate feeling, with a strong understanding of race cars and tracks. These are exactly the qualities required in the skillful role of driving in a simulator, one of the vital pieces of equipment in the Formula 1 of today.”

[Featured image: Peter Fox/Getty Images]

16th September 2018

Where will F1’s juniors be in 2019?

The 2018 driver market has been both kind and cruel to F1’s young drivers. On the one hand, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris have all secured dream promotions to Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren respectively.

But on the other hand, Esteban Ocon and Stoffel Vandoorne have both found their F1 careers on the rocks thanks to silly season developments, while rising stars like George Russell struggle to find any space on the grid.

As the final 2019 deals begin to fall into place, we look at which young drivers might yet find seats for Melbourne next year.

Antonio Giovinazzi

Despite becoming Italy’s first F1 driver in six years when he deputised for Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber last year, Antonio Giovinazzi has been unable to add to his two starts since being leapfrogged in Ferrari’s junior scheme by Charles Leclerc.

But with Leclerc moving from Sauber to Ferrari, Giovinazzi might finally get his shot at a full-time race seat. If Ferrari’s right to nominate one of Sauber’s drivers is to be believed, then Giovinazzi could be just an executive decision at Maranello away from joining the Swiss team’s lineup for next year.

Stoffel Vandoorne

If Ferrari does insist on Sauber taking Giovinazzi, that will put pay to one of Stoffel Vandoorne’s best post-McLaren options.

Should Sauber be off the table, Vandoorne’s only real hope for 2019 is Toro Rosso. Honda is reportedly keen to bring Vandoorne into Toro Rosso having valued his feedback during their partnership with McLaren.

But even with Honda behind him, Vandoorne will have his work cut out convincing Helmut Marko that he has more potential than was shown in his two years with McLaren.

Pascal Wehrlein

Another potential obstacle in Vandoorne’s route to Toro Rosso is Pascal Wehrlein. The former Manor and Sauber driver is leaving the Mercedes family at the end of the year in a bid to open up more opportunities on the F1 grid, and is said to have a big fan in Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost.

It’s not the first time Wehrlein has been linked with Toro Rosso—he was touted as a potential mid-season replacement for Brendon Hartley earlier in the year. Those rumours may have come to nothing, but Wehrlein’s sudden appearance as a free agent in the driver market will surely give Red Bull and Toro Rosso something to consider.

Esteban Ocon

The details of Esteban Ocon’s plight to remain in F1 next year hardly need repeating by now. Currently his best chance of a 2019 race seat involves either Mercedes pressing customer team Williams to pick him over a more well-funded alternative, or breaking free from the Mercedes camp as Wehrlein has done and hoping that leads to a shot with Haas or Toro Rosso.

If neither avenue comes to fruition, then we’ll likely see Ocon take up a third driver role with the works Mercedes team—possibly dovetailing that with outings for the marque’s HWA-run Formula E team—before aiming to replace Valtteri Bottas in 2020.

Outside F1

If current drivers like Ocon and Vandoorne are struggling to stay in F1 next year, it’s doubtful anyone from the junior formulae will find space on the 2019 grid.

As the Formula 2 championship leader, Mercedes junior George Russell should be the best placed young driver to make the step up to F1. However, his position behind Ocon in the Mercedes hierarchy means that it’s unlikely he’ll be allowed to overtake the Frenchman and take an F1 drive at his expense.

On the other hand, F2 stalwart Artem Markelov may yet get his F1 break after five years in the feeder series. His Russian Time backing has seen him linked to Williams in recent weeks, and an FP1 run with Renault in Sochi will be the perfect chance to make his case when it counts.

Formula 3 title leader Dan Ticktum was being queued up to join Toro Rosso for next year, until the FIA pointed out that he was ineligible for a Super License. Ticktum will likely move to F2 for next year to complete his Super License, before stepping up to Toro Rosso in 2020.

David Pastanella / Red Bull Content Pool

14th September 2018

Wehrlein to leave Mercedes after 2018

Mercedes-Benz has announced that it will part ways with Pascal Wehrlein at the end of the 2018 season.

The decision, which has been described by both parties as mutual, brings to an end a six-year partnership that included a record-breaking run in the DTM and Wehrlein’s Formula One debut with the Mercedes-engined Manor team.

Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff said: “Our junior programme has always been about supporting young talent and finding opportunities that are in the best interests of the drivers’ careers.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t offer Pascal a competitive drive for next year. In his best interests, we have therefore decided together with Pascal not to extend our agreement and to give him the best chance of securing an opportunity elsewhere that his talent merits.”

Wehrlein added: “I am very grateful for all the support Mercedes has offered me. Now it’s time to take the next step. I am looking for new challenges and opportunities and am currently talking to other teams about a cockpit for next season.”

Wehrlein’s break came in 2014 when he became the DTM’s youngest ever race winner and was appointed third driver for the Mercedes F1 team. The following year he became the youngest ever DTM champion.

Wehrlein made his F1 debut in 2016 with Manor and scored his first championship point in Austria. The following year he moved to Sauber and took a further two points finishes, in Spain and Azerbaijan, but lost his seat for this year to Charles Leclerc following Sauber’s renewed Ferrari partnership.

Toto Wolff has been quoted recently as saying that Mercedes would be prepared to let its junior drivers go if doing so would help their careers, following his struggle to find Wehrlein’s former stablemate Esteban Ocon an F1 seat next year.

23rd August 2017

Sauber bringing key aero update to Spa

Sauber will be completing its second major upgrades package of the season this weekend in Belgium, in a bid to offset its year-old Ferrari engine deficit.

The update—a new floor—will form the second part of a significant aerodynamic upgrade that began at the last round in Hungary, where new bodywork and an improved cooling system were fitted to the C36.

The is the first major update to the car since Sauber revised its floor, sidepods, brake ducts and bodywork during the race weekends in Spain—where Pascal Wehrlein scored the team’s first points of the season—and Monaco.

It is hoped that the completed second package will help Sauber to counteract the shortfall in power of their 2016 Ferrari power units, particularly with the Belgian Grand Prix and the following race at Monza providing some of the most engine-dependant racing on the F1 calendar.

Speaking about the upgrade to Autosport at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Marcus Ericsson said, “Hopefully this next update will work a bit better than the upgrade we got [in May] as it didn’t really give us the jump we had hoped.

“When we got the car working, like in Silverstone in the race, we could keep similar pace to the Haas cars, and Vandoorne wasn’t much faster. We are not too bad, when we get our car together.”

Nevertheless, the team will be wary of expecting too much from the new parts this weekend—especially as at the chassis-specialist Hungaroring, the first instalment of Sauber’s new aero package saw Wehrlein and Ericsson qualify on the final two rows of the grid, and finish the race two laps down and last of those still running at the flag.

It is likely this will be Sauber’s final big push to improve the competitiveness of the C36, before it turns its attentions fully to constructing next year’s challenger.

Tag: Pascal Wehrlein