Pascal Wehrlein: ‘Little Schumacher’ ends F1 career at the age of 23

Wehrlein was born in 1994 in Siggingen, Germany and like many other speedy -speed boys, his idol is the legendary racer Michael Schumacher. Having tried to climb step by step, from Karting racing, Adac Formel Masters, Formula 3 Euro Series to DTM, in 2014, at the age of 19, Wehrlein touched the dream when signing a contract with the F1 team of Mercedes. Wehrlein also had time to join Ferrari but it was all his meager points with the idol. Wehrlein has never been fully lived with F1 like Schumacher.

In 2017, Wehrlein, despite being considered as one of the promising talents, could not compete in the position in Mercedes, where Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon and George Russell fiercely competed. To play, he moved to the Manor team. A year later, Wehrlein continued to come to Sauber and despite leaving many impressions, he was shook his head.

“I never thought much about what I could not control,” Wehrlein recalled. “In the first year with F1, I lost his position in Manor but it was not my fault. When placed on the comparative scale, Sauber thought that Wehrlein was still too “young”, so he chose Charles Leclerc racing.

“Life is sometimes like that and I accept. After all, I am not too disappointed. I think I have shown my ability, but I have never got a car that is enough to be competitive, so I can’t get a stable point. Anyway, it’s a good time and everything has encapsulated in the past,” Wehrlein shared.

Wehrlein is not predestined with F1 and quickly shifted to Formula E, an electric car tournament. Everything is very good now when Wehrlein and the Porche racing team are leading the 2022/23 season after 5 races. “Life is divided into many chapters,” Wehrlein emphasized. “I have experienced chapter DTM, F1 chapter and now in the formula E. Finally, I also own a car capable of winning – the feeling that I have been lost for a long time. I used to be in a position that I could not compete for the title for a very long time. Therefore, I really appreciate the present, extremely happy to be in the Porche team in Formula E. We are going to many beautiful cities. It is important to be fair.

Different from the gentle appearance and a smile on the lips, Wehrlein is actually a very aggressive racer in Formula E. Last year in the London round, Wehrlein had a light “physical interaction” with another famous hot head, Sebastien Buemi. By the next round in London, Wehrlein “tried” Nyck de Vries “never reached F1” after the two sides collided on the track forcing the two to give up halfway. Anyway, De Vries still escaped Wehrlein’s “curse” to join the F1 Alphatauri team a few weeks later.

“On the track, I am very ambitious and aggressive,” Wehrlein confessed. “Standing on the podium a few times is not enough. I have my own driving style and in Formula E, the two cars are allowed to touch each other, so I try to take advantage of this to gain advantage. But in real life, I am more mature, have my own small family and feel that is enough.”