With his place on the Formula One grid lost, Pascal Wehrlein has returned to German touring car series DTM.
The 23-year-old who is part of the Mercedes stable, made his Formula One debut at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix and enjoyed two full seasons driving for the now defunct Manor Racing and last season with Sauber.
He has finished in the points on three occasions during his 40 race career, the first for Manor at the Austrian Grand Prix [10th] and the two other occasions coming in 2017 for Sauber at the Spanish Grand Prix [8th] and in Azerbaijan [10th].
But he has been a victim of Sauber’s tie-up with Ferrari which has seen the team become Alfa Romeo Sauber.
Ferrari development driver and Formula Two Champion Charles Leclerc has taken his seat.
Following the news that Sergey Sirotkin was handed the final available seat on the grid at Williams, Wehrlein has had to look elsewhere for a drive.
He will return to Germany, where he became the youngest DTM champion in 2015.
‘I’ve got some terrific memories of the DTM, not least because of my title win in 2015, but also because of the strong team spirit and amazing experience I’ve had with the guys,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘A lot has changed in the DTM since my last race in the DTM season finale at Hockenheim back in 2015, but I like a challenge and can hardly wait to try out our new car on track for the first time.’
At the end of the 2018 season, Mercedes will leave the DTM series and at that point, Wehrlein will make the move to Formula E.
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