This is why Wehrlein failed at Mercedes

Pascal Wehrlein was considered one of the greater talents within the Mercedes Driver Academy in his time. Yet his Formula 1 career did not take off. Now the driver for Porsche's Formula E teamlooks back on that time.

Wehrlein started in 2016 as a driver for Manor. In 2017 he made the switch to Sauber, because the next step, a promotion to Mercedes, was blocked by a decision of team boss Toto Wolff. Wolff decided to bring Valtteri Bottas to the factory team, and not the then 23-year-old German. Wehrlein was able to look for a new employer, but still he doesn't look back bitterly on that period in his life.

After all, he has 39 racing starts in the royal class of motorsport behind his name, something of which he is still proud. "It is difficult to describe your feelings when your dreams finally come true. I had a lot of fun. But everything goes so fast that you turn the button and only think about working with the team," he says in a Sport1 podcast, as quoted by Speedweek.com.

"At the end of 2016 a decision was made between Bottas and me. In the end they chose Bottas. The reason was that I had only been in Formula 1 for one year. They didn't think I was experienced enough at Mercedes. But it was a good year, I want to say. Manor had little money and resources. In spite of that, we had a good year and even scored points. It was a good year, but one year of experience in Formula 1 is not a lot," concludes Wehrlein, who nowadays drives for Porsche in Formula E.