Wehrlein back in action for the Sahara Force India F1 Team

(© Ben Johnston 2015)

Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team test and reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein was once again driving for the Sahara Force India Formula One Team on Saturday.

It was the German’s second day testing for the Silverstone based outfit having shared driving duties with the Sergio ‘Checco’ Perez on Friday. The German completed 81 laps in the 2014 VJM07 setting the eighth fastest time of the day with a 1m 27.333s. Speaking following the session Wehrlein stated:

‘It was great to be back in the car after a surprising Thursday and this turned out to be another great day. When you get into a completely different car to what you are used to, everything is new, from how the car feels to the buttons and dials on the steering wheel. 

Having had the experience on Thursday really helped me with this, I learnt a lot in these two days and that made a difference for me. The team did really help me settle in my role: everyone welcomed me from the start and made it really easy to work. The atmosphere is great. Today's work was very focussed on set-up and we even managed to include a longer run: it was a good day's work and I am looking forward for more opportunities in the future.'

Sahara Force India’s Chief Race Engineer Tom McCullough stated:

'It's never ideal to have rain showers disrupting the day, but in the end everyone is under the same sky and facing the same challenges. Today it was a matter of adapting to the conditions and making the most of the time we had and I feel we achieved that. Pascal settled within the team really well in his first full day, getting to know the engineers and the mechanics; he did a very mature and solid job without putting a single foot wrong. 

He handled the changing conditions well and did not let the very low track temperatures affect him. We managed to include both set-up and long run evaluations in our programme and, despite the poor weather, it was still a productive day. Our final day of testing tomorrow will be similar to what we did yesterday, allowing Nico Hulkenberg to do his first running on the 2015 tyres and to get his first mileage of the season.'

© Ben Johnston 2015