Pascal Wehrlein

I no longer really visit the site nor read the threads, so if any moderation is required it's better to report the thread or post, which will give it a better chance of being seen (eventually).

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I'm reminded of some lyrics off a song by the Lemonheads... "Ship without a rudder's like a ship without a rudder's like a ship without a rudder's like" etc...
 
That'll be why I never listen to the Lemonheads then, I can't bear repetition or people repeating and reiterating themselves. Did I mention I don't like repetition? I'll repeat it them, don't repeat yourself.
 
This is now the official Pascal Werhlein 'girlie' thread. We bring you all the latest in links and photos, but we don't do serious F1 discussion because we're 'girlies'.
Any wannabe or honorary 'girlies' will be warmly welcomed, we'll be gentle, we'll be nice.
But girlies wishing to impress the dark side should remember, 'we off da wall over ere sister, know wot a mean?'

So on to the first post.......
A little background on our man.

Insight: What kind of driver is Manor Formula 1 rookie Pascal Wehrlein?

Yep, it's a link, we're girlies. And we don't like to type everything out in case we damage our manicured nails. To whet your appetite, here's a taster from the link.

" Consistency was the most important factor in his title run as he scored 15 points finishes from 18 races to go along with his brace of victories. The DTM’s success ballast system makes it very difficult for one driver to dominate, as evidenced by the 13 different race winners in 2015.
Wehrlein’s two victories came at Moscow and Norisring – in the former he pressured and passed BMW’s Marco Wittmann to claim the win, while at Norisring he survived a difficult early phase on a damp track before moving up the order to win by 0.3s."

Consistency is a word that keeps cropping up when Wehrlein is discussed. It was used to describe his performance when testing for Mercedes and Force India. He also topped the time sheets in tests. Yes, he was driving a Mercedes, but even so, he was a rookie.

And on how DTM is actually a good preparation for F1......

"“There are also grown-up circuits and there is a field of very professional drivers, which is definitely a rung up from F3.
“The teams’ working practices are all derived from F1 so operationally it’s almost identical. You have a good commercial grounding too, so the drivers do quite a lot of promotion and marketing so that doesn’t come as such a shock when they get to F1.
“The only thing lacking is the car development and technology. It’s probably only a little bit more advanced than GP2 in that respect.”

So that's a little of the background out of the way. Now onto the interesting part; the speculation, the what ifs.......
Clearly Mercedes have seen something special in this young man. When the engine deal was done with Manor back in September, Pascal was likely to have been part of the package.

Lauda confirms Mercedes to supply Manor with engines for 2016 - Read Motorsport

"With this partnership, Mercedes will look to place their young, reserve and test driver Pascal Werhlein in one of the seats."
And
According to Autosport's Ian Parkes, Wehrlein's one-year contract is "believed to be worth" up to €6 million to Manor, who will be offered access to Mercedes' Brackley-based 50 per cent wind tunnel.

So Mercedes were very keen for Pascal to get some F1 experience.

Now think of some of the recent comments Mercedes have made. 'if our drivers can't get on we will have to look at changing the line up.' Well Lewis has a new two year contract , whereas Mercedes have said they won't renew Nico's yet, his runs out at the end of this season.
So what if Merc loosen up on their equality policy? Let the drivers chose a strategy? Have their own strategist? And Lewis beats Nico by a bigger margin than last year?
And at Manor, Pascal blows away his team mate. The much talked about consistency transfers into F1? Might not of course, look what happened to Mags senior, but what if.....

Could we see this partnership for 2017 or 2018.
Girlies, you may wet your knickers now!


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Lol. I guess before I was just starting a thread to mark his entry to F1. I had a little more time on my hands this evening and was inspired.
 
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The trouble with consistency, as applied to F1 drivers, is it often leads to mid field drivers who occasionally get a podium. Coulthard springs to mind.
They are more inclined to be brilliant if they are fanatical and consistent.
 
Yes I agree with that Titch. Consistency can be developed, but outright talent has to be there in the first place. Max Verstappen springs to mind.
I guess we have to reserve judgement in Wehrlein until we've seen more of him in F1 race conditions.
 
Look at this link Titch. It looks like even closer ties to a Merc seat. he will shard the reserve driver for Mercedes with Ocon. But Pascal will be the first call should one of the regular drivers need replacing......

( though Pascal has a Manor drive)....

"Still, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said it is possible Wehrlein will be available to step up to the main team if required.

"If it happens a lot in advance, then we would find a solution with Pascal and Manor. But it is important that Manor is not damaged through this.

"So in this case we would not want to pull Pascal out of there overnight," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

"If the thing happened at very short notice, Esteban Ocon would be an alternative for us," Wolff added.

Wehrlein, Ocon to share Mercedes reserve role > F1 News > Grandprix.com

Did you note the wording....."step up to the main team"
No doubts then that Manor is the Merc B team.
 
That's intriguing. Yes it speaks of closer ties with Manor, and the fact that Mercedes hold both young drivers in high regard, but also that there may be a more fluid situation in the main team. It was that little aside, "Given enough notice, we would move Wehrlein up, without damaging Manor" or words to that effect.
 
You can almost hear the negotiations that went on when the engine deal was done.

'We'd like you to run Pascal. But should we require him at Mercedes he'll return, though we'll try not to inconvenience you. Of course our wind tunnel will be available to you'

I wonder how much expertise goes with the engine and the the use of the wind tunnel?

Anyway, this is Pascal's helmet.

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I love the idea of Mercedes getting naffed off with the in-fighting between Rosberg and Hamilton half way through the season and swapping one of them for Wehrlein. Who would Totto move out to Manor?
 
Rosberg. He's paid less, less of a threat to Vettel and has no contract beyond this year.
But yeah, Intriguing prospect. And a threat Toto can use if the drivers give him shit.
 
Well going on last year Vettel was the closest threat to the Merc boys, he was in contention for second place in the championship until quite near the end. So IF the gap was narrowed ( between Ferrari and Merc) and Vettel was close, Rosberg would be the more vulnerable to him.....going on the form of the last two years.
 
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