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Sauber's Pascal Wehrlein hopes that he will be fit to make his Sauber race debut in Bahrain next weekend.
He was replaced in Australia by Antonio Giovinazzi due to doubts about his fitness, and the Italian is again racing in Shanghai, whilst Wehrlein is not present at all.
His prolonged absence has led to speculation that his injuries are more serious than he has claimed, or that there is a dispute between his employers Mercedes and Sauber engine suppliers Ferrari which is delaying his return to the cockpit. Speaking to Bild, Mercedes' Toto Wolff said: "Of course you could infer that this is a political struggle.
"But the fact is that we have a good relationship with Ferrari and we would never get into it over junior drivers. It's a great thing for Antonio Giovinazzi to get a chance, and Pascal will be back."
Wolff claims that Wehrlein broke a vertebrae in the Race of Champions crash that led to his absence, and Sauber Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn has told Auto Bild that he is currently working hard to regain the fitness he lost: "He is training hard now to make his debut race for us in either Bahrain or Sochi," she revealed.
She also responded to the conspiracy theories by adding: "It's only about training and nothing else. Some people should be quiet rather than speculate wildly. His spine was extremely compressed in Miami so the doctors initially gave him an absolute training ban. He is now taking the time he needs."
Wehrlein himself said of his training: "The problem is that Formula One does not work like football. After an injury, you can't build yourself back up slowly in a Formula One car. The most important thing for me is that I can now train very hard to get my performance back to 100% so I am well-prepared for my first full weekend with Sauber.
"I hope that this will be in Bahrain, but at the latest I should again be in top physical condition for Russia."
Mason Hawker
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