Pascal Wehrlein is ready for his first outing at the Suzuka International Racing Course, and has already had his first experiences of the reception drivers get in Japan.
The Manor Racing driver admitted the Japanese fans showed great enthusiasm after camping outside the hotel in which he was staying, and is hoping to reward them with a good result on Sunday.
“Every destination is a new experience for me but some stand out more than others,” said Wehrlein. “This is definitely one of those. Already, I met a lot of fans as they are camped out at the hotel and they gave me a super-excited welcome, which was nice.
“I also got some great and funny gifts; the fans are really creative, I have to say. I’d love to go to Tokyo one day, though I won’t get the chance on this visit, but the crowds come from all over the country to this race, so I hope we can reward their enthusiasm and support for our team with a good performance this weekend. P.S. The sushi is great!”
Wehrlein is hoping that the team continue to improve their car with the upgrades that they brought to Malaysia last time out, with the German feeling they were beginning to get on top of them as the weekend progressed.
“This is a very technical and challenging track for car and driver, so the first thing is to master the circuit,” said Wehrlein. “After that, we started to get our new developments working better by the time we got to race day in Sepang, so hopefully we can continue that progress.
“We need to find a little more pace from them, so that’s the big focus for Friday. After that, we’ll see.”
