19-year-old Pascal Wehrlein has been named Mercedes reserve driver following his ADAC Formel Masters DTM victory last weekend. The German also finished runner-up in his debut Formula 3 season in 2012, as well as completing over 12,000km in Mercedes’ F1 simulator this year alone.
Last week Wehrlein completed a 500km test at the Autodromo Internacional Algarve to prepare him for F1. “I was delighted when I learned that I would be completing a Formula One test for Mercedes,” said Wehrlein. “It took me a few laps to get used to the incredible speed, the very hard brakes and the high cornering speeds – it’s in another league compared to the DTM. “I adapted quickly and was able to improve in each of my short and long runs and didn’t want to go back to the pits.
The test was simply the greatest experience I have had so far in motorsport. There weren’t any nerves, which surprised me – I just felt ready for it. The feedback from the team and from Toto [Wolff] was very encouraging and I think that I did a good job.”