If ahead of the season some would told that Pascal Wehrlein would miss two races and still be higher than Fernando Alonso in the standings at the mid-way point, it would be a courageous guess. The former DTM champion came back from the injury and is now solely focused on F1. Before the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, he was talking to ŚwiatWyścigów.pl’s Roksana Ćwik.
The biggest news of the weekend is that Mercedes is pulling out of DTM. How do you feel about that decision and the fact that you might be their last DTM champion?
At the moment I am the last one, but there are still two more chances, so I am not thinking about being the last Mercedes DTM champion. I was really surprised by the decision, but it is what it is. I just hope that the team members will find some other projects and will not lose their jobs because they are very good at what they do and I still have a very good relationship with them.
This year you already took five points driving for Sauber. Do you think it will be possible next year as well if the team switches to Honda engines? We know that a certain Honda driver is unhappy with their units.
I do not know what will happen next year. At the moment I only have a contract for this year, so that is what I am focusing on right now. For me, it is not worth thinking about Sauber next year, as I do not have a contract and I do not know if I will be driving for them next year.
Probably the biggest talking point in F1 right now is the introduction of Halo, which does have many opponents due to its looks. What do you think of it?
I share the opinion that it looks bad. The cars were made prettier and more aggressive this year and putting a Halo on them is a step back in terms of aesthetics. The matter of fact is that we had two options – the Shield or the Halo and the Silverstone test shown that the Shield did not work, so what else could FIA do…
The Formula 1 was always an open-cockpit car and still will be, it will just look much worse with the Halo. We can complain about it all we want, but it is not worth complaining. We should work towards making it work, answer the questions like how can we improve getting in and out of the car, and just get used to it.
Your former Mercedes DTM team-mate Lucas Auer will test an F1 car next weekend. Do you think he is the right candidate?
I do not know, but he is not testing an F1 car for no reason. I really like him, we are friends and it would be nice to see him get a chance in F1.
It is unusual for a team to change principals mid-year. Do you see any changes in how the team operates now?
I think there is always a change if the team boss is leaving, but I just try to focus on my job, on driving the best I possibly can and cooperating with the team and the media. Of course, it is different without Monisha [Kaltenborn], but now we have a new team boss in Fréd Vasseur and I look forward to working with him.
You missed the first few races due to the Race of Champions accidents. Do you feel okay now?
Yes, everything is quite good now, so there is no reason to worry.
Do your team still allows you to take part in such events?
Monisha did not and I think that Mercedes will not allow me as well.
Being from Poland, I want to ask about Robert Kubica. Do you think he can make his comeback happen?
I hope so. He was an unbelievably good driver and I really respect him. Who knows what could have been if his career was not put on hold due to the accident, maybe he could have been a world champion. He definitely deserves another chance in F1. I was only injured for 10 weeks and it felt like a really long time with a few difficult days during that period. You can only imagine how many such days he must have faced in those six years and still he was working towards coming back. If you work so hard for a really long time, you should deserve another chance.
Being a Mercedes driver, you could have a chance to get into a lot of cool races like the Spa 24h which is happening this weekend. Would you consider one-off appearances in different disciplines?
You never know what could happen in the future, but at the moment my focus is solely on Formula 1 and I want to have a great career here.
