Pascal Wehrlein

Pascal Wehrlein (; born 18 October 1994) is a German and Mauritian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Porsche. In formula racing, Wehrlein competed under the German flag in Formula One from to , and won the 2023–24 Formula E World Championship with Porsche.

Born and raised in Sigmaringen to a German father and a Mauritian mother, Wehrlein began karting aged eight, winning several regional championships before progressing to junior formulae in 2010. He won his first championship at the ADAC Formel Masters in 2011, before graduating to the Formula 3 Euro Series, where he finished runner-up in his debut season. Wehrlein moved to touring car racing in 2013, signing with Mücke in DTM. He moved to HWA the following season, breaking several records before winning the championship in 2015 to become the youngest-ever DTM champion aged 20.

A member of the Mercedes Junior Team since 2014, Wehrlein signed for Manor in , making his Formula One debut at the ; he scored Manor's only championship point at the , before moving to Sauber in . After missing the opening two rounds following an injury at the Race of Champions, Wehrlein scored their only points finishes that season in Spain and Azerbaijan. He was replaced by Charles Leclerc for , ending his Formula One career. After another season in DTM with Mercedes, Wehrlein moved to Formula E for the season with Mahindra, remaining with the team until the Marrakesh ePrix in prior to his mid-season departure. He joined Porsche for , taking his maiden win at the 2022 Mexico City ePrix before achieving several further victories throughout his campaign. In , Wehrlein won his first World Championship after winning three ePrix amidst a close title battle with Mitch Evans.

Early and personal life

Wehrlein was born in Sigmaringen to a German father and Mauritian mother. His father Richard, a former boxer, owns a CNC machining company in Ostrach.

Junior racing career

Karting

Wehrlein began karting in 2003 and raced only in his native Germany in his early career. He worked his way up from the junior ranks to progress through to the KF2 category by 2009, when he finished on fifth position in ADAC Kart Masters.

ADAC Formel Masters

2010 saw his debut in the ADAC Formel Masters championship with ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. (also known as Mücke Motorsport). Wehrlein finished sixth in the championship with a win at Sachsenring and three other podiums.
He remained in the series with the team for the next year. Wehrlein scored seven wins at Oschersleben, Sachsenring, Zolder, Nürburgring and Lausitz on his way to the championship title.

Formula 3 Euro Series

In 2012, Wehrlein stepped up to the Formula 3 Euro Series, continuing with Mücke Motorsport. He finished 2nd in the championship to Daniel Juncadella.

DTM career

Mücke (2013)

Wehrlein made his Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) debut with the Mercedes-Benz team Mücke Motorsport in 2013, becoming the youngest driver in DTM history at the age of 18. In a career spanning three seasons Wehrlein managed to be one of the leading drivers in the field despite his youthful age.

He qualified eighth for his debut race at the season opener in Hockenheim and led the race for 16 laps after an early safety car period, but dropped back to the midfield after his mandatory pit stop, finishing his first DTM race just outside the points in 11th. He scored his first points with two 10th place finishes at the second and third round in Brands Hatch and Spielberg respectively. Wehrlein qualified a season best fifth at Norisring but had to retire from the race with rear axle problems after making contact with the wall. Round seven at Nürburgring saw him achieve his first fastest lap and another 10th place finish in a race heavily affected by a sudden downpour of rain on the formation lap. Wehrlein finished his rookie season 22nd in the championship.

HWA (2014–2015, 2018)

In 2014, he switched teams to HWA where he became the youngest driver in the series history to claim pole position and win a race on route to 8th in the championship with 46 points collected. Besides his stand out victory at Lausitz, Wehrlein's second best result of the season was a fifth-place finish at Norisring.

In 2015, DTM returned to running two races per race weekend, resulting in 18 rounds in the 2015 championship. Due to the inconsistency of most teams and drivers, Wehrlein won the title easily, having scored in all rounds except for three. He achieved 5 podiums, one fastest lap and two wins. He is the first driver to win the championship having not claimed a pole position throughout his championship season while also being the youngest ever DTM champion.

On 7 February 2018, it was announced that Wehrlein would return to DTM with Mercedes-AMG's HWA Team after Mercedes were unable to find him a seat in Formula One. During the 2018 DTM season, Wehrlein achieved one podium and finished the championship in 8th.

On 14 September 2018, it was announced that after six seasons together, Wehrlein and Mercedes would part ways by the end of the 2018 season.

Formula One career

In September 2014, it was announced that Wehrlein would act as a reserve driver for the Mercedes F1 Team and was signed up to be their first junior driver. He took part in preseason testing in Barcelona, driving for both Force India and Mercedes.

Manor (2016)

On 10 February 2016, it was announced that Wehrlein would make his F1 debut with Manor Racing. It is understood that Manor would receive access to Mercedes's wind tunnel in exchange for hiring Wehrlein. He picked number 94, in reference to his birth year. Wehrlein scored his and Manor's only point of the season at the with a tenth-place finish.

Sauber (2017)

On 16 January 2017, Wehrlein signed with Sauber. He was forced to miss the first test in Barcelona due to an injury he sustained while competing in the Race of Champions. He was replaced by Antonio Giovinazzi before returning for the second test at the same circuit. Despite being fit to take part in the , he later withdrew after participating in the first two practice sessions, with Giovinazzi replacing him for the rest of the race weekend. On 3 April 2017, Sauber F1 announced Wehrlein would again be replaced by Giovinazzi for the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix. He proceeded with entry into the following Bahrain Grand Prix, qualifying 13th and finishing the race in 11th. He finished eighth in the Spanish Grand Prix after running a one-stop strategy. He did not lose a single one of the places he gained, although a five-second penalty for a pit entry violation cost him seventh to Carlos Sainz Jr. His race at the Monaco Grand Prix ended when, on the 57th lap, Jenson Button tried to lunge down the inside at Portier but succeeded in flipping the Sauber onto its side against the barriers, necessitating another scan of his back. He scored his second points finish of the season in the chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix after fighting hard with his teammate Marcus Ericsson for 10th position. This took his points tally to 5 points. Despite having beaten Ericsson in both qualifying and the majority of races, plus being the only driver who scored points for Sauber that season, on 2 December 2017, Sauber announced that Wehrlein would not be renewed for the 2018 season and that he would be replaced by Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari development driver (2019–2020)

Wehrlein joined Ferrari as a simulator driver for the 2019 season. He was retained for 2020 but did not continue the following year, citing his commitments as Porsche factory driver.

Formula E career

Mahindra (2019–2020)

2018–19

Wehrlein moved to Formula E for the 2018–19 season, driving for Mahindra Racing alongside Jérôme D'Ambrosio. He did not contest the opening round of the season in Diriyah, with Felix Rosenqvist replacing him, instead making his debut at the Marrakesh ePrix. Wehrlein earned his first pole position in just his third race in the series at the Mexico City ePrix. In the race he crossed the finish line in second, 0.210s behind Lucas di Grassi after being overtaken in the last corner, but was given a 5-second time penalty for cutting a corner earlier in the race which relegated him to sixth position. He set the fastest qualifying time in the qualifying session for the Paris ePrix, but he and teammate d'Ambrosio had their times disallowed for underweight cars, promoting Oliver Rowland to pole position.

2019–20

On 8 June 2020, Wehrlein announced his departure from the Mahindra team in a post on Instagram.

Porsche (2021–present)

2020–21

Wehrlein was signed up to drive for the Porsche Formula E team for the 2020-21 Formula E World Championship. Wehrlein replaced Neel Jani and partnered with fellow countryman André Lotterer. Wehrlein took pole at the Puebla ePrix and crossed the finish line first, before being disqualified after his team failed to declare his tyre set.

2021–22

Both drivers were retained for the 2021-22 season. Wehrlein took pole in the championship's third round at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City and went on to win the race, claiming his and Porsche's maiden Formula E victory as well as Porsche's first 1-2 finish, with Lotterer crossing the line in second place, making him the first black person and first person of colour to win a Formula E race.

2022–23

For the 2023 season, Wehrlein remained with the German manufacturer, entering the Gen3 era alongside António Félix da Costa. His season began in style as, having finished second in the season opener in Mexico City, Wehrlein managed to charge through to victory during Race 1 in Diriyah after starting from ninth place. Wehrlein continued his successful weekend in Saudi Arabia, winning the second race and taking the championship lead. A fourth place in Hyderabad extended his advantage to Jake Dennis in the standings, however the German crashed out of the Cape Town ePrix on the opening lap, missing his braking point and colliding with the back of Sébastien Buemi's car. Wehrlein went on to finish in the points in all remaining races, though he would fall back in the title battle with just one further podium coming in the form of a victory in Jakarta. He and Porsche ended up fourth in the respective championships, as a perceived qualifying weakness was held responsible for the team losing to its customer Andretti.

2023–24: World Champion

Wehrlein, Porsche, and da Costa returned for the 2024 season. The German began strongly once again, scoring pole for the season-opener and securing the first win of the season at the Mexico City ePrix. He then scored points in the subsequent four races, even taking pole at São Paulo. The maiden Misano ePrix proved to be a double-edged sword for Wehrlein, who after crashing into Jean-Éric Vergne in race 1 profited from an energy miscalculation by Oliver Rowland and the Nissan team to inherit victory on the last lap. Wehrlein took his third pole of the campaign at Monaco, though he dropped back to fifth in a dominant race for Jaguar. Following a scrappy Berlin weekend, one in which Wehrlein came to blows multiple times with reigning champion Jake Dennis, the German finished second in the first race at Shanghai, losing the lead on the final lap to Mitch Evans but keeping second against Nick Cassidy with an aggressive defence that led to contact between the two cars. On Sunday, a clash with Sam Bird forced Wehrlein to pit for a new front wing, leaving him to finish outside of the points.

Wehrlein gained points against championship leader Cassidy with two top ten finishes at Portland, going into the final round at London with a 12-point deficit to the Kiwi. During a frantic Saturday race Wehrlein battled past polesitter Evans to win the race, thus gaining the championship lead. The following day, Wehrlein drove a conservative race, keeping himself between the two Jaguars of Evans and Cassidy for the majority of the contest. When Cassidy retired following a puncture and Evans missed his second attack mode activation, Wehrlein, who by that stage had been passed by Rowland for the race lead, was able to finish second, therefore clinching the title by being six points ahead of Evans.

2024–25

Wehrlein and da Costa continued with Porsche into the 2024–25 season.

Endurance racing career

2025: Daytona and Le Mans debut

At the end of 2024, Wehrlein was chosen by JDC–Miller MotorSports to partake in the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona with them alongside Bryce Aron, Gianmaria Bruni and Tijmen van der Helm, therefore making his endurance racing debut. The team brought the car home in sixth place.

Wehrlein made his WEC debut with Porsche Penske Motorsport at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. He will later make his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut later in June, competing with the same team alongside Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

Complete ADAC Formel Masters results

( key)

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

( key)

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

( key)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver did not finish, but completed 75% of the race distance.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula E results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

^* Season still in progress.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

^* Season still in progress.

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wehrlein, Pascal
1994 births
Living people
ADAC Formel Masters drivers
British Formula Three Championship drivers
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champions
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers
Formula 3 Euro Series drivers
German Formula One drivers
German people of Mauritian descent
German racing drivers
People from Sigmaringen
Sportspeople from Tübingen (region)
Manor Formula One drivers
Sauber Formula One drivers
Formula E drivers
Mücke Motorsport drivers
HWA Team drivers
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers
Mahindra Racing drivers
Porsche Formula E Team drivers
Porsche Motorsports drivers
Racing drivers from Baden-Württemberg
Campos Racing drivers
Formula E Champions
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
JDC Motorsports drivers
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
Team Penske drivers