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Ericsson: Maiden IndyCar test showed 'why I fell in love with racing'

Published on 05 Dec 2018 11:08
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By: Fergal Walsh

Marcus Ericsson says that his first run in an IndyCar brought him back to his love of racing after his stint in "artificial" Formula 1. The Swede will race for Schmidt Peterson Motorsport in 2019, partnering James Hinchcliffe at the team.

Sauber confirmed earlier this year that Ericsson, who joined the team for the start of the 2015 season, would not be racing for it in 2019. It announced that Antonio Giovainzzi would take the second seat alongside Kimi Raikkonen, while Ericsson would act as its third and reserve driver.

Soon after the Hinwil outfit announced its plans for next season, Ericsson penned a deal to race in the prominent American series. On Tuesday, the 28-year-old got his first run at Sebring after successfully completing a seat fitting last month.

"This sort of gets me back to why I fell in love with racing," said Ericsson. "F1 is always going to be F1, you know? But it’s sort of a bit artificial in some ways. You always go to these perfect places, and that’s not racing, I would say. This takes me back to the passion of racing.

"As a driver, you have to work this car a lot more, F1 always starts from perfection, whereas here you have to deal with the car you have and then sort of perfect it. It’s a lot more work from the driver. That’s the biggest difference."

"I feel like I definitely have stuff that I can bring from my F1 experience to help us as a team to move forward, but I also think the team is really at a high level. I’ve been impressed with the way they work and the preparation they do before a test with all the prep on the setup side. That’s been quite impressive."

2GRX7

Posts: 108

I don't know-I think his criticism is valid-no sour grapes there. When I went racing, none of the tracks were anywhere near as polished as an F1 curcuit, nor did it have a circus behind it!

Maybe he's remembering a time when the tracks he went to had bumpy/uneven surfaces with guard railing a co... [Read more]

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Dec 5 2018 - 15:52

IndyCar News Kimi Räikkönen Marcus Ericsson Sauber

Replies (5)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Do I smell sour grapes? Some smelly smelling souring smelting seeds? But I kinda get what he is saying. Its one of the downsides to thr exclusivity Ecclestone pursued all these years.
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- Dec 5 2018 - 13:52
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  Definitely. It bothers me when people that accomplish nothing in the sport leave criticizing the hell out of the sport. I don't always agree, but I always take criticism from guys like Montoya, Alonso, or even Massa seriously.
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  Dec 6 2018 - 02:51
f1dave

Posts: 782
Looks like the beginning of a long downhill slide.
Maybe he would enjoy Formula E even more.
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- Dec 5 2018 - 15:36
2GRX7

Posts: 108
I don't know-I think his criticism is valid-no sour grapes there. When I went racing, none of the tracks were anywhere near as polished as an F1 curcuit, nor did it have a circus behind it!

Maybe he's remembering a time when the tracks he went to had bumpy/uneven surfaces with guard railing a couple of feet from the track and it was all about the racing and only 20% talking to your sponsors in the "VIP Tent" which was basically at the hauler! LOL-that's kinda what he'll be going back to with Indy Car!

But, for his first shock- St Peterberg! LOL!
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- Dec 5 2018 - 15:52
f1ski

Posts: 726
don't think it is sour grapes. Nascar and indy provide more true racing. F1 the top three set rules to help themselves. the most blatant the hybrid engine and rules to forbid development.
Double diffusers blown diffusers were banned when the other power teams couldn't make theirs work. A false environment of true competition.
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- Dec 6 2018 - 02:26