Pascal Wehrlein trusts Mercedes to ensure he's on 2017 F1 grid

With just eight weeks and five grands prix remaining this season, Wehrlein is one of a declining number of drivers who does not have a confirmed seat for the 2017 F1 campaign.

His current team Manor is expected to make a late call on its line-up for next year, although it has expressed a desire to keep both Wehrlein and fellow Mercedes protege Esteban Ocon.

Asked by Autosport whether he was confident he would have a 2017 F1 seat, Wehrlein replied: "My feeling is that first of all I'm confident.

"I'm a Mercedes driver and they are all happy with me.

"I know that they will do what they can, and they will find the best option for me next year, so I'm not concerned about next year - which is good.

"I have showed some good results this year and everyone is happy, but as you know Formula 1 is not always so easy.

"Let's see what happens, but I'm confident and I'm happy with the season so far, and with both teams - Manor and Mercedes."

DTM champion with Mercedes last season, Wehrlein said his instruction from the German manufacturer this year was simply to learn the ropes in F1.

"The biggest target was to learn as much as possible because it's my first year in Formula 1, my first year in single-seaters for three years," added Wehrlein, who scored Manor's sole point of 2016 so far in the Austrian Grand Prix.

"It's quite a long time when you have to get used to the cars, even to the tracks because I did DTM and I think only Hockenheim, Budapest and Spielberg are Formula 1 tracks. Apart from that, every track is new to me.

"So I had to learn about the car, the tracks, Formula 1, the tyres - I had never driven on the Pirelli tyres - and about how Formula 1 works."

Wehrlein feels Manor has done "a better job than expected" given its limited resources in terms of both finance and personnel compared to the works Mercedes team that he tests for.

"It's very difficult to compare Mercedes and Manor, and it wouldn't be fair because Mercedes has many, many people - I think more than 700, 750 just working for the car, and then again 750 working on the engine," he said.

"We at Manor have 170 I think now, so we've increased since the beginning of the season, but it's still a different world.

"One guy, for example, at Manor has to do the same as maybe four or five guys at Mercedes, so of course it's a difference.

"For what we have we are doing a very good job. Even if we are not fighting with Mercedes and the top teams, but fighting with Sauber who have more than double the people we have, we are very competitive."