Schmidt says Ericsson 'pretty pissed' after Alfa Romeo saga at Spa
- Published on 03 Sep 2019 15:59
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Marcus Ericsson is "pretty pissed" after missing out on a race drive at the Belgian Grand Prix following his call up, according to Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' team co-owner Sam Schmidt.
Ericsson missed the penultimate round of the 2019 IndyCar season at Portland last weekend to attend the Belgian Grand Prix.
Alfa Romeo notified him that his services may be required for the race at Spa-Francorchamps, following an injury for Kimi Raikkonen during the summer break.
However, Raikkonen was deemed fit to race, leaving Ericsson to watch on the sidelines while Conor Daly took his place at SPM for the round at Portland.
"I don't know for real what's going on over [in Belgium], because I was told Raikkonen was totally out for this weekend," said Schmidt, as quoted by Autosport.
"That's why they needed Marcus, and then he gets over there and he doesn't get an opportunity.
"He's pretty pissed, because he wanted to be here, and he's been driving well lately, so we were disappointed too.
"But we wanted to do them a favour, and it's no big deal - he's only 17th in points, and we wanted to be nice."
Next season, the Schmidt Peterson team is joining forces with McLaren to become McLaren Arrow SP, with James Hinchcliffe staying to at least see out his contract.
However, Ericsson is fighting for a seat on the 2020 IndyCar grid, and missing a round hasn't done him any favours, says the Swede.
"I'm racing for a new contract there for next year and, of course, every time you get to race it's an opportunity to show them what you're made of," he said.
"So of course it's not optimal, but there was such a real chance of me racing this weekend that the decision was made for me to be [at Spa].
"Both Kimi and the team agreed that it was very uncertain that he was going to be able to race. It's not the optimum situation for me, but that's the case sometimes."
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Replies (6)
Login to replymcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Giovinazzi's seat belongs to Ferrari. Kimi is a lot more logical choice in Spa ( especially Spa! ) than Ericsson any given day. Had it not been for a lunatic driver hitting Kimi's car multiple times, he might as well would have brought home few points.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
When you sign up for a reserve driver position that's what is involved. Ericsson has never been a top tier driver in F1 and has shown what he's made of already in Indycar. If you don't like ovals you ain't gonna make it in Indycar, full stop.
Kean
Posts: 692
Again, he doesn't have a problem driving ovals. Check his interviews, he enjoys ovals. They have been a pleasant surprise for him.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
OK, his lips were moving, but he gave up his seat at how many tracks now?
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
@KEAN, Aah, with a little more research I see that it was my error and it was Chilton, not Ericsson who gave up his seat to Daly citing not being comfortable with ovals. I'm not much of an Indycar fan, so honest mistake. My bad. I do think Ericsson is better than Chilton, but not much.
Kean
Posts: 692
Ericsson has made too many mistakes this year, he's been pushing a bit too hard and then mistakes are bound to happen. He's also had some really bad luck when he was racing well, a rock in the radiator, his crew botched a pit stop. He's also had some bad luck with other drivers slamming into him, Sato comes to mind. So the results hasn't been there, but during most races he's actually raced really well before bad luck or brainfart has struck. Now, to be fair to Chilton, in the beginning of the season, before Carlin changed suspension supplier, I think Chilton was right not to race ovals. That car had serious problems, hence the changing of suspension supplier.