Pascal Wehrlein feels Manor Racing achieved their target at the German Grand Prix this weekend.
The German finished the Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring in seventeenth, ahead of the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson. Wehrlein had brief contact with team-mate Rio Haryanto when he tried to overtake, with Haryanto coming off worse after sustaining damage to his front wing.
Wehrlein is happy with his finish of seventeenth and believes there was no opportunity for Manor to improve this further.
“I’m really happy,” said Wehrlein. “It was a very straightforward race, so there were no opportunities to improve further through the field, but we still achieved our target of finishing ahead of Sauber and we got a Renault too. So it was a good race.”
This weekend, Wehrlein completed his first home Grand Prix as a Formula 1 driver, with the German admitting it was something very special to see all the German flags at the circuit.
The end of the Grand Prix in Germany marks the start of the three-week Summer Break, and Wehrlein is looking forward to F1 returning as he believes Manor will come back stronger than ever when the season begins again at the Spa-Francorchamps.
“It was a very special atmosphere and you could really feel the crowd,” added Wehrlein. “Before the race, we stopped in the Motodrom to greet the fans and they were really great and supportive.
“It is something very special to see so many German flags and I think they got a good race today after so long without a German Grand Prix. I’m happy that I got a good result too.
“Now we have the Summer Break and though I’m not that eager to hang up my helmet for four weeks, everyone in the team deserves a holiday, so my thanks to them and I’m looking forward to us coming back stronger than ever in Spa.”
