BREAKING: Ericsson to join IndyCar!

Marcus Ericsson has signed a deal to race with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in America for the 2019 season, partnering James Hinchcliffe in the IndyCar series.

Ericsson has been a regular in F1 for five years since his debut in 2014 with Caterham.

When Caterham folded at the end of the year, the Swede joined Sauber and has been there ever since, without having all that much success.

He went two whole seasons in 2016 and 2017 without managing a single point, but has found more success this year, scoring nine points so far to equal his record tally, set in 2015.

Sauber are having a double driver change for the new season, with Charles Leclerc joining Ferrari, being replaced by Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi taking the other seat, leaving Ericsson out of options in an already crowded F1 driver market.

Ericsson will remain with the team as reserve driver, but it does seem unlikely that he will ever return to the sport.

On being unveiled as an IndyCar driver, Ericsson said: "It's a great honor to be picked as one of the drivers at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and IndyCar for the 2019 season. It feels like a perfect step for me and my career after five years in F1.

“I can't wait to start work with SPM and all the people in the team which I've heard a lot of good things about. They've had some great success over the years, and I'm looking forward to working hard to continue and improve on that path.

“The racing in IndyCar looks great and I feel really excited to be part of it in the future. It will be a lot to learn including new tracks, oval racing, etc. I know it won't be easy, but it's a challenge I'm very much looking forward to and I can't wait to get started.”

Sam Schmidt, co-owner of the team added: “Ric [Peterson] and I are excited to welcome Marcus to the team. He has a ton of experience racing in the top levels of motorsports, so we believe that he will be able to contribute to our development program that began in earnest in 2018.

“While the circuits on the IndyCar schedule will be brand new to him, particularly the ovals, we have a lot of confidence and trust in his eagerness to learn along with his work ethic. We think he and James [Hinchcliffe] will be a good fit to push one another and fight for those wins.”