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Wehrlein reveals F1 race number

Formula 1's newest recruit Pascal Wehrlein has confirmed he will take the same number 94 into grand prix racing that he won the DTM championship with last year.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Manor Racing owner, Pascal Wehrlein, Manor F1 Team and Dave Ryan, Manor F1 Team Racing Director

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Manor Racing owner, Pascal Wehrlein, Manor F1 Team and Dave Ryan, Manor F1 Team Racing Director

Manor

Pascal Wehrlein, Sahara Force India F1 VJM08 Test Driver
Pascal Wehrlein, Mercedes AMG F1
Pascal Wehrlein, Sahara Force India F1 VJM08 Test Driver

The German has just signed a one-year deal with Manor, which comes after a big push by his Mercedes bosses to try to secure him a seat in F1 as part of its young driver development programme.

Just hours after he was officially announced, Wehrlein confirmed that he will be using the number 94, which has a double significance for him.

It was not only the number that he used in DTM, but also is his year of birth.

"I will carry the #94 again which I ran in DTM last year," said Wehrlein during a media teleconference on Wednesday. "It’s just because I was born in 1994."

Wehrlein had used numbers 24 (Mercedes) and 34 (Force India) in his recent F1 testing outings.

Deal done a few days ago

Although rumours linking him with Manor have been around for a while, Wehrlein said it was only recently that the deal came together.

"I got the news a few days ago," he said, speaking from the Manor factory. "Today is the first time I’m here at the workshop. Later today I will do the seat-fitting and will meet the team, too.

"We have a one-year contract in place. I want to learn a lot and grow with the team. Hopefully we can be successful together and move up the order."

He added: "Last year Manor was lacking quite a bit, that’s true. There is a lot of motivation in the team as far as I can tell, but the gap was quite huge indeed.

"Still, I believe the team can make a big step in 2016. How big I cannot possibly say. For me Manor is a good team to learn and grow as a driver in F1. And who knows what’s possible together. We hope to close the gap and be competitive."

Team-mate preference

Werhlein is the first Manor driver to be confirmed, and it has not yet been decided who his team-mate will be in 2016.

Rio Haryanto, Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens have all been linked with the seat.

Speaking about who he would prefer, Wehrlein said: "I hope to get a good teammate. It would be good for the team if we were able to push the development.

"But I really don’t care whether it’ll be an experienced driver or not."

Additional reporting by Stefan Ziegler

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