Breaking news
Formula 1
Wehrlein: "You couldn't see" my best F1 races in 2017
Pascal Wehrlein reckons his best race performances of the 2017 Formula 1 season were overlooked because Sauber was so far behind by then.
Matt Beer Ben Anderson
Edited: Dec 28, 2017, 12:56 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Wehrlein scored all five of Sauber's 2017 points via eighth place in the Spanish Grand Prix and 10th in Azerbaijan, but has lost his seat to Formula 2 champion Charles Leclerc for '18 amid Sauber's enhanced relationship with Ferrari and new Alfa Romeo tie-up.
Though the Barcelona drive was the statistical high point, Wehrlein reckons he performed better than that in the second half of the season - when Sauber's declining form meant the best he could do was 12th in Singapore, and he ended the year with three straight 14th places.
"In terms of result, [Barcelona] was the best race of the year but probably in the second half of the season I had better races, but you couldn't see it," said Wehrlein.
"Even if we had a good race in the second half of the season, you couldn't see it because the gap was just too big - for example, in Suzuka, I was lapped by the second-last guys.
"I'm quite happy in the end with five points. Not all of the races have been good as I wished but I think in general we did what we could do."
As well as Sauber falling away from its rivals, Wehrlein said his own form was hampered by extra issues for much of the latter part of the year.
He said engine problems afflicted him "from Austria to Monza" and "in Japan and Austin the car was all over the place".
Wehrlein was among the long-shot contenders for the Williams seat now likely to go to Sergey Sirotkin. He has now been tipped for a return to the DTM with Mercedes next season.
The 23-year-old added that he was sure he could still return to F1 after 2018 if he had to race elsewhere for a season, joking "I won't retire!" when asked if he feared missing next year would end his F1 career.
Wehrlein said he could look back on 2017 with no regrets and underlined that he was still developing as an F1 driver.
"Definitely I was always giving my best, and I think that's the most important thing that you can say about yourself," he added. "When an opportunity was there, we took it.
"With more experience you think 'ah, one or two races ago I was doing this direction with the set-up, now I know this was worse I should have gone in this direction', and you always learn something."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Red Bull endured "worst year since 2006" for reliability
Next article Ferrari's landmark F1 cars: Villeneuve's first race winner
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Matt Beer
Ferrari drivers escape punishment for clash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Ferrari drivers escape punishment for clash
Hamilton accepts full responsibility for Albon collision
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Hamilton accepts full responsibility for Albon collision
Vettel, Leclerc called to stewards over accident
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Vettel, Leclerc called to stewards over accident
More from
Pascal Wehrlein
2027 Formula E drivers and teams: The line-up so far
Formula E
Formula E 3 h
2027 Formula E drivers and teams: The line-up so far
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
2 mo
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
2 mo
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
More from
Sauber
Sebastian Vettel reveals why BMW didn't want him – but Red Bull did
Formula 1
Formula 1 16 d
Sebastian Vettel reveals why BMW didn't want him – but Red Bull did
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Lewis Hamilton 'almost signed for Sauber' before F1 debut, says Peter Sauber
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing
10 mo
Lewis Hamilton 'almost signed for Sauber' before F1 debut, says Peter Sauber
Latest news
The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
1 h
The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down
2027 Formula E drivers and teams: The line-up so far
Formula E
FE Formula E 3 h
2027 Formula E drivers and teams: The line-up so far
Kimi Antonelli meets Italian president Sergio Mattarella
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 4 h
Kimi Antonelli meets Italian president Sergio Mattarella
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe