Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, Monaco, 2018

Ericsson targetting Q2 and points at every race

2018 F1 season

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Marcus Ericsson believes Sauber should have more confidence in its potential and can target points finishes at all the remaining races.

Sauber has scored points with both cars already this year, something it last managed in 2015. But Ericsson said the team had gone into some recent races expecting not to be competitive.

“In Barcelona I think everyone was saying this track wouldn’t suit us,” he said. “Even within the team everyone was saying it’s going to be tough.”

“And I said ‘look guys, we cannot go into the weekend thinking that – I think we can be there and mix it up’. That was my feeling when we went to Barcelona and it was the same going [to Monaco].

“On Wednesday, before the weekend started, we knew this track could be difficult for us. But I said I think we should be in the mix because we’re in the midfield now, we score points on a quite regular basis. We need to have that mindset as well.

“If we have the mindset that this will be a difficult track for us, it doesn’t work like that. We need to be going into the weekends confident that we can be in the fight and that’s how we should go forward now for every weekend.”

Ericsson scored his first points of the year in Bahrain, but hasn’t made it out of Q1 so far this season.

“I will go into every weekend now and have the aim to score points and get in Q2,” he said. “That’s how we need to work as a team, I think.”

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Gabriele Koslowski
Gabriele Koslowski first began following Formula 1 during the early noughties, and is a director of a Belgian motorsport media company. During the past...
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4 comments on “Ericsson targetting Q2 and points at every race”

  1. Vettel fan 17 (@)
    3rd June 2018, 13:57

    If he means Sauber, it’s very unlikely but maybe possible. If it’s himself… I’ll sooner see Kartikayn win a race

  2. He is not even close to be good enough to do it.
    If Sauber does improve, Leclerc is going to be the guy scoring the best results anyway.
    He is already the superior driver to 4 seasons and a half Ericsson.

  3. Ericsson was the first Sauber of the year to score points, and the car is gradually improving. Apparently faster than their rivals. I think he is right to aim for Q2 and points in Canada and beyond!

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      4th June 2018, 22:05

      Even though I know what he says will be criticized by many, aiming higher than where is likely isn’t a problem.

      I still don’t think he’s anything like as bad as people suggest. He’s not having a bad year. But the last few qualifying sessions have certainly been a bit poor. During the races though, he’s looked decent in all but Baku. Some may think Spain was nothing Special as Leclerc was quite away ahead, but Ericsson did some really good defending against faster cars. Leclerc did some excellent defending in Baku too. The car is certainly getting better. Just look at the results Sauber have got this year.

      Australia: Leclerc 13th and Ericsson DNF. 4 other DNF: A williams, Toro Rosso, and 2 Hass.

      Bahrain: Ericsson 9th and Leclerc 12th. just 3 DNF. Ferrari and 2 Red Bulls.

      China: Ericsson 16 and Leclerc 19th. Just 1 Toro Rosso DNF. This race maybe isn’t a good highlight.

      Baku: Leclerc 6th and Ericsson 11th. 7 DNF. 2 Red Bulls, a Toro Rosso, Williams, Force India, Renault,
      Hass and Mercedes.

      Spain: Leclerc 10th and Ericsson 13th. 6 DNF. A Ferrari, Toro Rosso, Renault Hass, Force India and McLaren.

      Monaco: Ericsson 11th and Leclerc DNF. 2 other DNF. Mclaren and Toro Rosso.

      Although retirements in other teams have helped them out, I still think Sauber are doing really well this year. And I think Monaco was possibly a highlight. It was looking to be a 12th and 13th place finish for Leclerc and Ericsson if just Alonso retired. I don’t think Sauber were getting these kind of results last year that often. They certainly don’t look like the worst team in terms of the cars ability. I thought both drivers did really well during the race in Monaco and Leclerc was very unlucky with the incident. From when I remember seeing Ericsson in an interview recently, he did seem quite confident that the Sauber was getting better. So at a high speed track like Canada, as the Sauber has less grip and more speed, it may suit them better. So aiming for Q2 and points isn’t unrealistic there. Every race is very unlikely but being optimistic isn’t a problem.

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