SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Wehrlein not denying Manor rumour

Pascal Wehrlein has not denied speculation he is in the running for a Manor seat in 2016.

Currently with Mercedes in the German touring car championship DTM, the highly-rated 20-year-old is also the Brackley team's official F1 reserve.

But the German is now being linked with Manor amid rumours the former Marussia team could form an alliance with Mercedes next year, along the lines of Haas' 'B-team' technical partnership with Ferrari.

Wehrlein is quoted by Germany's Sport1: "I cannot influence anything beyond doing my best in DTM, and so far it is going very well and I can fight for the championship."

Indeed, driving for Mercedes' top HWA squad, Wehrlein is running a close second place in DTM this season with three rounds to go.

He said he does not have time to think about what might be coming in the future.

"At the moment I have a tight schedule where every weekend I am either in formula one or DTM. Especially now, fighting for the championship, it is not the right time to give thought to what I will do after the season," added Wehrlein.

(GMM)