Pascal Wehrlein believes the performance gap between himself and new Manor team mate Esteban Ocon in qualifying last weekend demonstrates that Rio Haryanto is underrated.
Haryanto lost his drive at Manor after twelve races after failing to secure the necessary funding to pursue his F1 ambitions. He was subsequently replaced by Mercedes protégé and Renault reserve driver Ocon.
"He’s a very highly-rated driver and to beat him by half a second in qualifying was very good and I’m happy with that," Wehrlein said about his novice team-mate.
"Maybe now you can see that Rio was actually very good and performing really well and I feel like [in qualifying at Spa] he could have done the same.
"I think everyone underrated him or underestimated what he could do. I feel a bit sad for that because, actually, he was a good team-mate and he did a good job."
DRIVER RATINGS: Belgian Grand Prix
Haryanto remains at Manor in a reserve role although Ocon has been nominated untiul the end of the season.
While it may be a bit unfair to assess the French driver so early in his F1 career, and with so much still to learn, Ocon is highly rated by both Renault and Mercedes.
At Spa last Sunday, he launched his race from 17th and ran as high 11th before running at the tail end of the field when the race resumed following the red flag period. Ocon finished his first Grand Prix 16th.
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