Monisha Kaltenborn praised by Toto Wolff

F1 Update: Toto Wolff has thanked Sauber for waiting to confirm Pascal Wehrlein’s future while Mercedes sorted its own driver line-up.

RACER understands a provisional agreement was put in place for Wehrlein to join Sauber as early as last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but those plans were thrown into disarray by Nico Rosberg’s shock decision to retire immediately after winning the world championship. Wehrlein was named as one of the main options to replace Rosberg but Mercedes focused on bringing in Valtteri Bottas from Williams, completing the deal on Monday morning.

Confirmation of the Bottas move came after Sauber announced Wehrlein would join the team for his second season in Formula 1 and Wolff is pleased with the outcome for the Mercedes young driver.

“On behalf of Mercedes, I must thank Williams for their cooperation in allowing Valtteri to make this move – and also Monisha and Sauber for their patience during the past weeks,” Wolff said. “I am pleased to know that Pascal will be racing at Sauber to continue his development in F1. He had a good first season with Manor and we feel this is the right path for him in the sport.

“It’s satisfying to have both of our young drivers taking on new challenges in F1 this year, with Esteban [Ocon] also racing at Force India. We’ll be following their progress closely; I’m sure we’ve got an exciting season ahead of us.”

Wehrlein will partner with Marcus Ericsson at Sauber, but the team’s competitiveness is likely to be limited by running a year-old Ferrari power unit in the final year of its deal with the Italian manufacturer. RACER understands talks between Sauber and Honda had taken place regarding 2018, but Wehrlein’s arrival suggests a Mercedes power unit supply is also a possibility.

Category: Formula One