Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn has rubbished conspiracy theories surrounding Pascal Wehrlein's continued absence from the cockpit, insisting "the story is actually very straightforward".
Wehrlein is missing this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, which follows his decision to skip the season opening Australian Grand Prix after deciding he was not fit enough to compete. The German-Mauritian driver has been playing catch-up with his fitness ever since sustaining a back injury at the Race of Champions in January, which significantly limited his training time at a crucial point of the winter.
The situation has created some confusion and scepticism in the paddock but Kaltenborn says there is nothing else going on behind the scenes.
"I have to disappoint you there, the story is actually very straightforward and it might just not be good enough for some people to sell it better," Kaltenborn told the media in Shanghai. "The facts are -- and it's really the way it is -- he had this accident in America, and most of us saw the pictures. You see it's quite an impact, particularly his back suffered there as a result of the accident, and there was a lot of load on the back. These kinds of things you have to take seriously.
"Since that accident he got very clear medical instructions, under which he could not do very much training. It surprised us he actually got medical approval to be able to be in the car again that quickly, and the doctors also told us it's the result of having such a fit condition. We put him in the car step-by-step, never a whole day [of testing] but half-days. But we all know there's something he's missed out, which he has to catch up.
"If you were at the second test, or at the first race, you already saw what a difference there was physically in Pascal. But it takes time to catch up. We can't do miracles."
Though Haas driver Romain Grosjean praised Wehrlein's decision to miss Melbourne as "brave", he also said he would have tried to race even if he did not feel like he could finish. That opinion was echoed by Sergio Perez, who did all he could to return from a scary shunt while driving for Sauber at the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix, but Kaltenborn thinks it is unfair to criticise Wehrlein for being cautious.
"I don't understand, because he did the same thing in Australia [drive the car for one day]. He really wanted to be there, he trained so hard in that time. You just cannot force things, and when the driver is saying this you cannot simply take that risk. That's why I don't understand it, particularly because you know his personality, and you know how ambitious he is and what dreams he has.
"I think it's very unfair, and you can't compare the situation. It's been a massive impact, this compression to his vertebra. You can't underestimate these kind of things. It's may be not such an exciting story, but it is as it is. You mentioned the examples --Sergio [in 2011], he wanted to sit in the car in Canada, and it didn't work, so we had to pull him out.
"You cannot compare these accidents at all. And even Marcus [Ericsson] after his accident last year [at Silverstone], it was not easy to sit in the car because the body simply takes its time. It's just a simple as that."
Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi will deputise for Wehrlein again after debuting in Australia.
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