Pascal Wehrlein’s personality didn’t please Sahara Force India

As the first Mercedes protégé to make his way into F1, Pascal Wehrlein clearly saw himself as a natural contender for the vacancy at Sahara Force India.

He thus did not appreciate that it was ultimately Esteban Ocon who was favored over him. He wanted to speak with the team leaders to understand the reasons for their choice, as he explained to Autosport: « I wanted to learn from this situation. I didn’t want to go there angrily and talk to them in a bad mood. Now I know the reasons, and it’s something easy to change. »

The reasons given are personal and not related to performance. The team was able to directly compare the two drivers since both were allowed to participate in several test sessions last season: « It has nothing to do with performance. They think Esteban fits better into the team than I do, that’s all. The decision was not related to technical feedback or performance but is linked to how we got along, something from a personal point of view. »

If it’s the somewhat cold and aloof attitude that has been blamed on the German driver, one might still wonder if it is so easy to change one’s personality to fit into a team.

We can therefore better understand Mercedes’ reluctance to throw him in at the deep end by directly appointing him to their team. Before the announcement of Nico Rosberg’s retirement, Toto Wolff was in talks with Manor and Sauber for him to continue his F1 learning in a smaller team.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr