Pascal Wehrlein finishes just outside the points for Sauber
Pascal Wehrlein made a remarkable return to Sauber, dominating his team-mate Marcus Ericsson all weekend and finishing a frustrating 11th, just outside the points after a one-stop race.
Pascal Wehrlein: A Comeback That Feels Good.
After missing the first two races of the season in Australia and China, Pascal Wehrlein made his grand return in the Sauber. And the least we can say is that the German driver hasn’t lost any of his skill.
By outperforming his teammate throughout the weekend, the former Manor driver also had reasons to be satisfied with his 11th place finish in the race, just outside the points but thanks to a great strategy from his team and flawless driving: « I am really satisfied with how my weekend went, starting 13th and finishing the race in 11th place. It was a pretty tough race, and we decided to make just one stop. This result is the maximum we could achieve today,” stated the German.
But the 11th place is of course frustrating for the driver and his team: « Of course, it’s really a shame to finish 11th and miss the points by one place. But despite everything, I’m already looking towards the next Grand Prix. » concluded Wehrlein.
P11! Great to be back! I was really enjoying this weekend! @SauberF1Team @F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/7hWH1SxoE0
— Pascal Wehrlein (@PWehrlein) 16 avril 2017
An anonymous race by Ericsson
Despite the gamble of starting the race on Soft tires, Marcus Ericsson was unable to come out on top and didn’t even finish the race, having to retire due to gearbox problems.
A race to forget for the Swede: « It’s a disappointing race. My start was good. I was the only driver on Soft tires but I was able to keep up the pace quite easily. The safety car came at the wrong time for me, so we decided to stay out. We were 8th for the restart but the other drivers, with fresh tires, passed me quite easily. » explains Ericsson.
A race strategy that cost him time and did not allow him to make up his deficit: After my tire change to Super Softs, I had a good pace but was too far behind the others to catch up. After that, I had to abandon the car on the side of the track due to a gearbox problem, concluded the Swede, somewhat disheartened.
