Pascal Wehrlein has joined Sauber for the 2017 season after missing out on a seat at world champions Mercedes.

The German’s move to the Hinwil team was announced as Mercedes successfully secured the services of Valtteri Bottas from Williams, with Felipe Massa returning to Grove.

Wehrlein replaces Felipe Nasr as Marcus Ericsson’s team-mate in the Swiss team’s line-up.

“I am very delighted at being a part of the Sauber F1 Team for the upcoming Formula 1 season,” said Wehrlein.

“It is a new challenge in a new team, and I am really excited and looking forward to this new adventure. Our objective is to establish ourselves in the midfield and to score points on a regular basis.

“That being said, I will do my best to support Sauber. Now I am looking forward to meeting everyone in the team and to tackling the preparations for the 2017 season. I want to say a big thank you to Sauber for trusting in me and giving me this great chance. And surely, a huge thanks also goes to Mercedes for the support.”

The 22-year-old German is part of Mercedes’ young driver programme and had been in contention to replace Nico Rosberg before the team moved for Bottas. Wehrlein was already expected to move to Sauber before the world champion retired in December