Despite being overlooking by the Sahara Force India F1 Team in favour of Esteban Ocon, Pascal Wehrlein still has a ‘tremendous future’ within Formula 1, according to the team’s Deputy Team Principal Robert Fernley.
The Force India team decided to choose Ocon to partner Sergio Perez for 2017 following Nico Hülkenberg’s departure to the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team, and Deputy Team Principal Fernley insists it is only preference that Wehrlein was overlooked in favour of the Frenchman.
Fernley insists Wehrlein has been extremely polite as they discussed a potential drive with the Silverstone-based team, and feels the Mercedes-protégé has a bright future ahead of him even if he remains with the Manor Racing MRT team for a second season.
“With Pascal, I think he was extremely courteous and very gracious,” said Fernley to Motorsport.com. “If you read the articles where he has talked about things, he is looking for guidance for himself rather than being critical of anything we have done.
“I think he’s a talented driver and the fact that we have chosen one over the other is only our preference. It doesn’t mean that Pascal doesn’t have a tremendous future going forward.”
