F1: Wehrlein - Ambitious approach can be misread

Mercedes youngster Pascal Wehrlein believes his ambitious nature can come across as being difficult to work with at times.

Wehrlein enjoyed an impressive rookie Formula 1 season on the track, scoring Manor's only point of 2016 and reaching Q2 on five occasions. Despite the strong performance, the German was overlooked by Force India when it came to choosing a replacement for Nico Hulkenberg, with fellow Mercedes young driver Esteban Ocon – Wehrlein's teammate for the second half of the year at Manor – selected instead.

One of the reasons given to Wehrlein regarding the selection was his approach outside of the car, with the 2015 DTM champion admitting he is keen to learn from Force India's decision. However, the 22-year-old insists his manner is simply down to his ambition and should not be seen in a negative light.

"I think it's more the approach you have," Wehrlein told RACER. "Me, I have always worked in the same way. I'm very ambitious, I'm pushing like hell because I just want to do the maximum. From my side I cannot accept saying something afterwards like, 'Oh this I could have done better,' or, 'If I had pushed more on that it would have been better.' So I cannot accept that.

"I clearly want to do the maximum and if afterwards it was not enough – like with the 10th place in the constructors' championship for Manor – then I can say 'OK, I did the maximum, I tried my best and more was just not possible.' If I cannot say that I'm not happy."

Asked if the Force India snub last year could prove good for him in terms of learning how to manage the way he comes across, Wehrlein replied: "Yeah, exactly."