Pascal Wehrlein says Manor’s strong first half to its 2016 campaign deserves to be acknowledged, with the F1 minnows showing they can challenge more established teams.
Making his series debut after winning the 2015 DTM championship, Wehrlein scored his team’s first point in two years by claiming 10th at the Austrian Grand Prix. This has put Manor ahead of Sauber in the Constructors’ standings, with the Banbury-based outfit often in the mix with Renault too.
“We don’t have so many people working in the factory but I think we are 140 or 150 people now and you forget we are doing a great job,” Wehrlein told F1i in an exclusive interview.
“I mean, Sauber has more than double what we have I think, and we always get the best out of the weekend for the last few races. Of course we could do a bit better here and there but overall I think we are in a very good position.
“We are in front of Sauber and I don’t think we could expect that because even last year and the years before the team was far adrift and this year is the first year we are really competitive and some races we are even in front of the Renaults. It's a much bigger team than we are, as is Sauber, and it’s great what we are doing.”
Although Wehrlein is keen to add more points to his tally, the German, who will partner fellow Mercedes protégé Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the season, insists Manor’s end result in the championship remains the priority.
“In the drivers’ championship I am in a very good position, I am in front of one Haas, one Renault and the two Saubers… If it would be possible to stay there it would be great but the most important thing of course is to beat Sauber.
“That would mean a lot to the team, a lot of prize money for next year and then of course gets easier because you can hire more people because we are a small team.
“Everything will be easier if we have more people and with a better financial background we can improve the car much more and build something better than what we have this year.”
Click here for the full Pascal Wehrlein interview
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