Mercedes reserve driver and DTM race winner Pascal Wehrlein could make his 2015 official track debut by testing for Force India at Circuit de Catalunya next week.
The 20-year-old is tipped to drive last year’s VJM07 after the team confirmed they would attend the second pre-season test with its 2014 chassis. Force India had initially planned on using their old car during the opening session in Jerez only to skip it altogether amid rising speculations on the outfit’s financial woes.
With the Silverstone-based team yet to reveal their Barcelona driver schedule, the move to run Wehrlein could be interpreted as a way to compensate power unit supplier Mercedes.
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has said he was keen to see Wehrlein get more track time after the young German’s maiden official F1 outing saw him set the fastest time overall of the 2014 Abu Dhabi post-season test aboard the W05.
Force India still expects to roll out their new Mercedes-powered 2015 challenger – the yet-to-be-seen VJM08 – at the third and final pre-season test, which also takes place in Barcelona later this month.
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