Pascal Wehrlein: Mercedes’ forgotten junior
You would be forgiven for forgetting Pascal Wehrlein had once been Mercedes’ star of the future. The 22-year-old has spent most of this season at the back of the field in a Sauber, after Esteban Ocon beat him to the Force India seat at the end of last year.
But, despite a back injury ruling him out of two races and a year-old Ferrari engine putting him on the backfoot, Wehrlein has been quietly proving why Mercedes were keeping an eye on him, even if he does seem he may have been forgotten.
2017 didn’t start well for Wehrlein. After missing out on the Force India seat, there was a small chance he could jump from the back to the front of the field when Nico Rosberg left Mercedes. But Mercedes wanted a more experienced driver, taking Valtteri Bottas from Williams, who needed a driver older than Wehrlein to satisfy sponsors Martini.
So the forgotten Mercedes junior was already on the backfoot before the season even started.
Things were made worse when Wehrlein crashed in the Race of Champions, fracturing three vertebrae injuring his back and ruling him out of the opening two rounds. He attracted criticism for pulling out of the Australian Grand Prix, the true extent of his injury not revealed to the public yet.
When he did get back in the Sauber cockpit for the Bahrain Grand Prix, there were fears the return might be a little too early. He silenced doubts with a qualifying effort that put him 13th on the grid, followed by an 11th place finish in the race.
Wehrlein went on to impress with two points finishes: an eighth in Spain and 10th in a hectic Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The whole five points he’s scored doesn’t look exciting on the surface, especially compared to fellow Mercedes junior Ocon, who has taken points from all but one race so far this season. But Wehrlein doesn’t have the benefit of a Mercedes power unit and internal politics at Sauber may also have made for a difficult working environment.
In many ways, Wehrlein’s ability to overcome these disadvantages could be more attractive to Mercedes than Ocon’s efforts in the Force India.
But where will his efforts lead?
Wehrlein is likely to be without a seat next season if Ferrari does go ahead with plans to make Sauber a junior team. With no room at any Mercedes-powered inn likely, his best chance to stay in the Mercedes ranks could be a test and development role