Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsManor

Manor officially announces Wehrlein signing

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Manor Racing has officially announced that Mercedes protégé and 2015 DTM champion Pascal Wehrlein will drive for them in Formula One this season.

Reports in Germany had already carried quotes from the 21-year-old talking about his signing, and by midday European time the team made it official with a press release confirming that Wehrlein will be at the wheel of the all-new Manor Racing MRT05 race car when it hits the track for testing in Barcelona on 22 February.

Wehrlein will take part in both pre-season tests ahead of his first Grand Prix in Melbourne, the team statement added.

"I will carry the #94 again which I ran in DTM last year," said Wehrlein in a media teleconference held later on Wednesday. "It’s just because I was born in 1994."

"Pascal is a sharp driver with a very promising future, Manor Racing is excited to have him aboard," said Stephen Fitzpatrick, Manor Racing’s owner.

"We’re a small team up for a big challenge this season, so we’ve chosen a driver with the talent and hunger to match our own on-track ambitions," he added.

"Pascal has impressed in testing for Mercedes and Force India, together with commanding performances in DTM, culminating in the championship win last year.

"Manor Racing is perfectly placed to help Pascal make a big impact in his first season," continued Fitzpatrick. "We’re looking forward to it!"

Mercedes will be supplying the team with its power units in 2016, and this had led to speculation that Wehrlein was in pole position to take one of the team's two race seats for the forthcoming season.

Mercedes has been honing the youngster's talent through track time at a series of F1 tests with its works team, as well as with Force India.

However until today's confirmation it had not been clear whether Mercedes would actually be willing to extend its financial support for its young hopeful beyond a certain point.

With Wehrlein now confirmed as one of its drivers, Manor Racing has the last open seat on the grid still to fill.

Last year's drivers Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens are still in contention, with Indonesian hopeful Rio Haryanto also hoping to secure the necessary funding to make his Formula One début with the team in 2016.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.