Pascal Wehrlein made his return to a Formula One cockpit on Tuesday after he was given the all clear by doctors after a recent accident in the Race of Champions left him with a back injury.
As a result the German driver was able to get his first impressions of the new Sauber C36-Ferrari while completing 47 laps in the morning session at the Circuit de Catalunya. Thankfully he didn't report any problems with his back throughout the session.
“First of all I am very happy, to be back in the Sauber F1 Team as a race driver after my back problems,” he said after his time in the car. “It was a real good feeling to be on track in the new car and getting back on the pace – and to get the first impression of the Sauber C36-Ferrari. During the session this morning it was just to get familiar with the procedures of the new car. Now I am looking forward to being back on track tomorrow.”
Overall however it was a challenging day the Sauber F1 Team with only 100 laps completed between both driver. As planned, Marcus Ericsson took over the Sauber C36-Ferrari from Pascal Wehrlein for the afternoon session and he only managed a further 53 laps in total as they performed aero testing, set-up work, tyre work and race preparation
“I took over the car in the afternoon with some new aero parts, which made the car feel quite different compared to last week,” Marcus explained. “We also worked on the set-up preparation for the season opener in Melbourne. Overall it was an interesting day, but not the smoothest one. We have to do some work overnight to analyse all the data to make the car more driveable for us drivers tomorrow.”
For day two on the Circuit de Catalunya, Pascal Wehrlein will be behind the wheel of the Sauber C36-Ferrari in the morning session once again with Marcus Ericsson taking over the car in the afternoon.
