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Why Wehrlein left Mercedes!

Why Wehrlein left Mercedes!

21-09-2018 14:39

It was announced recently that Pascal Wehrlein would be leaving the Mercedes driver development programme, leading to further criticism of the system.

Toto Wolff has said that he does not want Mercedes to start a Toro Rosso style team for their development drivers, even though they have struggled to find seats for the trio of Wehrlein, Esteban Ocon and George Russell.

All three have the credentials needed to be in F1. Ocon has been impressive in his two years in F1, Wehrlein looked like one of the most talented youngsters in the sport in his two years with Manor and Sauber.

Russell is the leader in Formula Two this season, ahead of the McLaren bound Lando Norris.

And now Wolff has revealed the reasoning behind Wehrlein’s departure from the team.

Although the German driver is only 23, he believes his career options are better elsewhere.

Wolff said: “We felt together with Pascal that this was the best outcome for him.

“My opinion of him is still very high and it looked like that we could possibly be blocking his future career and this is not what we wanted.

“He also felt that he needed to give it a go on his own. I would be overwhelmed and happy if he on his own would find his way back into Formula 1 or a professional racing career.”