Wehrlein began karting in 2003 and competed exclusively in Germany in his early years. He progressed through the junior karting ranks, reaching the KF2 category by 2009. He made his single-seater debut in 2010 in the ADAC Formel Masters with Mücke Motorsport, finishing sixth with one win. He remained in the series for 2011 and won the championship with seven victories, before graduating to the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2012, where he finished runner-up to Daniel Juncadella.
Wehrlein made his DTM debut in 2013 with Mücke Motorsport, becoming the youngest driver in DTM history at eighteen years old. In his debut race at Hockenheim he led for sixteen laps before dropping out of the points at his mandatory pit stop, but he scored points twice in the early rounds and demonstrated he could handle the machinery. He finished the season 22nd in the championship.
For 2014, he moved to HWA within the Mercedes-Benz setup and became the youngest driver in DTM history to claim both a pole position and a race win, finishing eighth in the championship with 46 points. His standout result was a victory at Lausitz.
The 2015 season brought the championship. DTM returned to two races per weekend that year and Wehrlein's consistency — scoring in all rounds but three — proved decisive. He secured five podiums, two wins, and the title without claiming a pole position all season, making him the first champion to do so. At twenty years old, he became the youngest ever DTM champion, a record that stood as testimony to his mature racecraft in a highly competitive field.
He returned to DTM with HWA in 2018 after Mercedes were unable to place him in Formula One. He took one podium and finished eighth in the championship before parting ways with Mercedes at the end of the season after six years together.
In September 2014, Wehrlein was named as a Mercedes F1 reserve driver and their first junior team signing. He made his Formula One debut with Manor Racing in 2016, scoring the team's only championship point of the season with a tenth-place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix. He moved to Sauber for 2017 but missed the opening two rounds after sustaining an injury at the Race of Champions. He finished eighth in the Spanish Grand Prix on a one-stop strategy, only losing seventh place to a five-second time penalty. He added a second points finish in the chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix, becoming the only Sauber driver to score points that season despite outperforming his teammate in qualifying and the majority of races. Despite this, Sauber replaced him with Charles Leclerc for 2018, ending his Formula One tenure. He subsequently served as a Ferrari simulator driver in 2019 and 2020.
Wehrlein moved to Formula E for the 2018–19 season with Mahindra Racing, partnering Jérôme d'Ambrosio. He earned his first pole position in only his third race, at the Mexico City ePrix, but was penalised to sixth after crossing the line second due to a corner-cutting infringement. He was disqualified from qualifying at Paris alongside his teammate after both cars were found to be underweight. He departed Mahindra in mid-season 2020.
Wehrlein joined Porsche for the 2020–21 season, partnering André Lotterer. He claimed pole at the Puebla ePrix and crossed the line first but was disqualified after his team failed to declare his tyre set. In 2021–22, he took pole in Mexico City and converted it into his and Porsche's maiden Formula E victory. With Lotterer finishing second, it was also Porsche's first 1-2 result and marked Wehrlein as the first black driver and first person of colour to win a Formula E race.
His 2022–23 season showed sustained pace — he won twice in Diriyah and once in Jakarta — but perceived qualifying weaknesses cost him the title despite leading the standings for significant stretches. He and Porsche finished fourth in their respective championships.
The 2023–24 season delivered the world championship. Wehrlein began with a pole and victory in Mexico City and scored points consistently through the year. At Portland, championship leader Nick Cassidy spun from the lead across two races, leaving the door open. Wehrlein won the first London race to take the points lead, then drove a controlled second race — finishing between the two Jaguars of Mitch Evans and Cassidy — to clinch the title by six points over Evans after Cassidy retired with a puncture and Evans missed an attack mode activation. It was Porsche's first Formula E drivers' title.
In 2024–25, Wehrlein took one win and five podiums, finishing third in the drivers' standings, but his performances helped Porsche secure the teams' and manufacturers' championships for the first time in their history.
Wehrlein made his endurance racing debut at the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona with JDC-Miller MotorSports, finishing sixth alongside Bryce Aron, Gianmaria Bruni, and Tijmen van der Helm. He subsequently made his WEC and Le Mans 24 Hours debuts with Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Wehrlein's trajectory — youngest DTM champion, Formula One debutant, and Formula E world champion — makes him one of the most decorated drivers of his generation across multiple disciplines. His DTM championship at twenty set a benchmark for youth achievement in one of the most physically and technically demanding touring car series in the world, and his Formula E title a decade later confirmed that the early promise was fully realised.