Wehrlein was one of the main candidates to replace Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, with his career having been guided by the German car manufacturer for several years.

But despite Rosberg’s retirement opening up the perfect opportunity for Wehrlein to get a top seat after a rookie campaign with Manor, the young German has revealed that Wolff was hesitant because it too was early.

“That is what he said,” explained Wehrlein about the conversation he had with Wolff on the matter. “One year of experience is not enough. It was quite clear.

"He said, ‘We think it would be good for you to have more experience, one year was not enough and especially in the second year, drivers are always making big progress.’

“I think Mercedes wants to have a ready driver and a perfect driver, who is at his limit. At the moment I am not on my limit where I could be, because of the experience and that is quite clear.”

Despite Mercedes’ reservations about the matter – and Wehrlein’s acknowledgement he hasn't reached his peak – he said he would not have turned the chance down if it was given to him.

“If the chance is there, you have to take it,” he said. “I think it was not too much. Of course with one year of experience you are not at your limit and you will do some mistakes.

"You will sometimes go in the wrong direction with the set-up because you are lacking the experience.

“It is something normal if you have five years of experience in F1 or even more, you know, the mistakes – they will be a lot less than with one year.”

No disappointment

Even though a Mercedes seat would have given him the chance to race at the front, Wehrlein said that ultimately there was no big disappointment in losing out to Valtteri Bottas.

“I knew I was one of the candidates, one of the possible drivers, but I didn’t focus on that,” he said.

“I’m not taking the decision, so I focused on my training, what I can do better for this year, and then wait until the decision was made.”