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Marcus Ericsson is looking forward to what could be his final ever race in Formula 1. The 28-year-old will leave his full-time Sauber driver role on Sunday after 97 Grands Prix and move over to America where he will compete in IndyCar next season.
Ericsson will be replaced by Ferrari academy product Antonio Giovinazzi, who joins F1 veteran Kimi Raikkonen. The Swede will remain as the reserve driver for Sauber, should he be needed as a quick replacement.
Ericsson has scored nine points so far this season and played a vital role in Sauber's resurgence. Last season, the team scored just five points between both drivers, whereas going into the final race this year Sauber has an outside chance of finishing 7th in the constructor's standings.
While Fernando Alonso and Sergey Sirotkin might be feeling emotional ahead of their last races, Ericsson is excited to race in his final Grand Prix and push for his highest ever finish. He stated “it will be a special weekend” in an interview on Thursday.
“I aim to finish it on a high [as this is] the last race for me in this stint in Formula 1. We have had some good results recently, and our form is strong. The car is competitive and we will push to bring home some more points. I look forward to this season finale very much,” Ericsson said.
Both Sauber drivers qualified for Q3 last time out in Brazil with Ericsson achieving P6. However, he retired from the race on Sunday. Charles Leclerc will also leave Sauber following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to complete his promotion move to Ferrari.
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G. Zhou
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Replies (2)
Login to replyajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Sadly it's the righting of a wrong. Ericsson should have never made it to Formula 1. He is the last of that first numerous generation of pay drivers that infected Formula 1 for several years. He has not once shown potential to be anything other than a backmarker. He is, however, a lovely bloke. He'd be great as a commentator or something else. Good luck to him in Indy.
Bhurt
Posts: 320
Speaking of wrongs: lots of what you and the article wrote.
He is not being replaced by Giovinazzi, he's being replaced by Kimi.
Ericsson made it to F1 and remained there for several years. For most of his time in F1 he performed better than his teammates. Someone who had no place being in F1 shouldn't have been able to do that.
Considering him as the last of the first generation of pay drivers means you think he's what? 60-70 years old? I think you've got him mixed up with someone else.
For all but one of his seasons in F1 he was in the worst car on the grid. Bit hard to fight for top positions in that kind of material. I doubt for example that you would consider Fernando Alonso a rubbish driver who is far from good enough to be in F1 because of his results with McLaren the last few years.
He does seem to be a lovely bloke, and I would hope that he has a future as either a commentator or anything else...