Former Toto Wolff prodigy and Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein gives credit to Red Bull for being a standout in one area
Former Toto Wolff prodigy and Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein has given credit to Red Bull for being a standout in giving opportunities to young drivers in the senior team. The Austrian team has been under the pump in the last few days for the manner in which the squad fired Liam Lawson after just a couple of races.
There is, however, the other side to it as well, and Pascal Wehrlein is arguably an example of that. The German driver was a Mercedes/Toto Wolff prodigy who had a lot of momentum behind him after winning the DTM championship.
Despite his connections with Mercedes, the driver struggled to get a meaningful run in F1. He was associated with Manor for a while and then with Sauber, but unlike the Red Bull program, where junior drivers have a clear ladder to the top, Wehrlein didn't.
The other example of something similar happening to him was Esteban Ocon. The French driver had an impressive junior career, and when he stepped into F1, his talent was visible. But even though there were rumors that he could replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes, the driver was forced to sit out for a year before Renault hired him in 2020.
Pascal Wehrlein has since gone on to build a strong career for himself as he won the Formula E championship last season. He was, however, quick to credit Red Bull as the team that has given young drivers opportunities since its inception.
This season in F1 has seen multiple young drivers being given an opportunity by teams and they drivers have also repaid the faith by performing well. This wasn't the case a few years back, except at Red Bull, and Wehrlein pointed out the same in an interview with Racingnews365,
"I think it sounds crazy, but 10 years ago when I was super young, I think that trend was a bit different. Everyone wanted to kind of have the most experienced drivers who have already proven themselves across several years, that they are performing great in their car so that there is not a lot of risk [in signing them]."
He added,
"And I think only Red Bull was a bit different in the past and they actually also gave super young drivers a chance to be in their A-team."
Red Bull going through a driver turmoil
While Pascal Wehrlein is correct when he talks about how Red Bull was one team that gave an opportunity to a lot of young drivers, it doesn't take away from the fact that the team is in disarray at the moment. The car is not performing the way it should, and on the driver front, there are serious issues.
Alongside Max Verstappen, multiple drivers have been trialed, but none have worked. Since 2019, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, and most recently Liam Lawson were given an opportunity in the second Red Bull seat, but it did not work.
The latest entrant is Liam Lawson's replacement, Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver makes his debut as Max Verstappen's teammate at Suzuka, his home race, this weekend. It would be interesting to see how he fares in one of the toughest challenges in the sport.