Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein will test for Force India on three occasions this year beginning with this week’s test at Barcelona.
The 20-year-old, who was appointed Mercedes’ reserve driver last year, will drive the team’s 2014 VJM07 chassis on two days at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Wehrlein will be at the wheel of the car on Thursday and Saturday. Sergio Perez will drive on Friday and Nico Hulkenbreg on Sunday.
Force India, who use Mercedes engine, will also give Wehrlein driving opportunities at this year’s two in-season tests.
“Pascal impressed us with his approach to the Abu Dhabi test last year and I am sure his feedback will be useful to Force India also,” said Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff.
“It is also a valuable opportunity for him to work with another team and gain more experience.”
Wehrlein raced in the DTM last year, winning once and finishing eighth in the points. He also logged tens of thousands of testing kilometres on Mercedes’ F1 simulator.
“As a young driver, any time you can spend in the car is extremely important and you can learn a lot,” said Wehrlein. “I know the simulator already, but I don´t have much experience on the track.”
“Everybody knows that lap times only play a secondary role when you’re testing,” he added. “But of course I want to be as competitive as possible.”
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Akhilesh (@graywizzard)
18th February 2015, 10:10
He is a descent driver. Im sure there was money involved.
petebaldwin (@)
18th February 2015, 10:27
No doubt – considering Force India are already showing up late to the testing party, they wouldn’t run the Mercedes test driver without good reason. I imagine they’ll have secured themselves a nice saving on there Mercedes PUs!
Akhilesh (@graywizzard)
18th February 2015, 10:40
Yeah. And since they are not using the new car there isn’t much knowledge he can pass onto his merc bosses :P
Pukka T Pie (@pukktpie)
18th February 2015, 12:01
Or lack of it… Having PW test drive will offset payments of the engine to Mercedes. Good luck to him, will be interesting to see how he gets on
Woody (@woodyd91)
18th February 2015, 18:49
Almost certainly, given they tried and failed to sell the seat for the Jerez test. Although I’m not so sure if it’s actually the cost of F1 that is at fault on this one but rather the financial issues that VJ is currently under.
Prof Kirk (@prof-kirk)
18th February 2015, 10:34
Does Pascal have a Super License?
MattDS (@mattds)
18th February 2015, 12:36
@prof-kirk @peartree Wehrlein currently has a super license but stands to lose for next year when the new rules will kick in.
MattDS (@mattds)
18th February 2015, 12:37
Adding to my above post, the same goes for Susie Wolff.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
18th February 2015, 12:11
Predictable.
@prof-kirk Good question, especially because Pascal is officially Mercedes reserve driver. I’m sure he has run in the past, I’m not sure if he qualified to reserve driver under the old rules and if he qualifies under the new rules.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
18th February 2015, 12:16
@prof-kirk Forgot to mention that there’s an article about this matter on the website.
GB (@bgp001ruled)
18th February 2015, 15:30
i was gonna ask why he is driving and not the official drivers! but of course: MONEY! i keep doing the same mistake: think of Formula 1 as a sport…
Brian Frank (@brianfrank302)
18th February 2015, 16:19
good comment
Matt
18th February 2015, 16:39
Isn’t the same reason why Susie is racing for Williams? Yes, she’s their test driver, but I believe she’s only there because of Toto. In DTM she didn’t achieve much (7 years there and her best result is a seventh place), no reason why she would get a place in F1.
GB (@bgp001ruled)
18th February 2015, 22:42
totally agree with you! but i like her! i am glad she is there: some eye-candy…
neil
19th February 2015, 0:24
I don’t think Mercedes are paying for him to drive, its more they’ve defaulted on a engine payment and this is one way of getting it paid off