Pascal Wehrlein believes his performance during the 2016 Formula 1 season was the maximum he could achieved under the circumstances and whilst trying his best.
Wehrlein successfully completed his rookie season with Manor Racing MRT last season, as he scored Manor’s only point and reached Q2 of qualifying on five occasions. Despite his strong performance, he was overlooked by Sahara Force India F1 Team when they were choosing a replacement for Nico Hulkenberg, instead choosing Esteban Ocon, Wehrlein’s team-mate for the second half of the season.
For the German, he was disappointed with this decision and wanted to know the reason behind why Ocon was chosen over him, and one of the reasons Force India gave to Wehrlein was his approach outside of the car, something he is keen to learn from that decision. He has now confirmed a deal with Sauber F1 Team and will partner Marcus Ericsson for 2017.
Wehrlein admits he pushes ‘like hell’ in his performance because he wants to do the maximum, but feels this should not be seen in a negative light.
“I think it’s more the approach you have,” Wehrlein told RACER. “Me, I have always worked in the same way.
“I’m very ambitious, I’m pushing like hell because I just want to do the maximum. From my side I cannot accept saying something afterwards like, ‘Oh this I could have done better,’ or, ‘If I had pushed more on that it would have been better.’ So I cannot accept that.
“I clearly want to do the maximum and if afterwards it was not enough – like with the 10th place in the constructors’ championship for Manor – then I can say ‘OK, I did the maximum, I tried my best and more was just not possible.’ If I cannot say that I’m not happy.”
