The performance of both Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon during the Spanish Grand Prix was impressive, according to the Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, Toto Wolff.
The two Mercedes-Benz-protégé’s finished inside the points at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Ocon finishing fifth for his Sahara Force India F1 Team, while Wehrlein scored his first points for the Sauber F1 Team, finishing on the road in seventh but being classified eighth after a time penalty for a pit lane offence.
Wolff is delighted with the progress both drivers are making with their new teams, with Ocon developing a good inter-team rivalry with Sergio Perez that is pushing Force India to better results, while Wehrlein continues to show improvements at Sauber.
“If you look at the results, both Pascal and Esteban had a really good weekend,” said Wolff. “Pascal made the one-stop strategy work and could have been P7 – but P8 is still very good for him and very valuable points for Sauber.
“I’m happy to see how Pascal has fitted into the team. He speaks highly about the team and is on a great learning curve.
“As for Esteban, Force India have been very successful in scoring regular points. Esteban is making a good contribution to that. He will really need to stretch himself to beat Checo (Pérez), who is the benchmark for him, but I’m interested to see how that battle develops.
“They’re pushing each other to new levels and Force India will be the beneficiary.”
