Ericsson: "It became like a survival mode"

Marcus Ericsson has revealed that racing with Sauber became a game of survival. The Swede will not race for the outfit in 2019 and instead will make the jump to IndyCar with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Having joined Sauber in 2015, Ericsson spent most of his racing near the back of the field before the team's recent reemergence from the backmarkers into the midfield. 

Alongside Charles Leclerc, Sauber enjoyed multiple points finishes last season but was largely out-performed by his highly-rated teammate.

Ericsson said he felt that whilst his career with the team had started on the right foot, it quickly became a game of survival as one of the slower teams.

"When I came here we had a great start to (2015) with some strong races, strong results, quite a lot of points.

“But then from sort of halfway through that season it became like a survival mode type of racing for two-and-a-half years.

“It was a very, very tough time for the team. We were struggling a lot, being less and less competitive and that was making it very difficult for you as a driver. We were really at rock bottom it felt like.”

Sauber had been set to take Honda power units in 2018 until a reshuffling at the top of the team saw Fred Vasseur come in as team principal to replace Monisha Kaltenborn. A deal with Ferrari was quickly arranged which saw the resurgence of the team from the back.

“We managed to turn it around and to be part of that transformation we’ve had the last 12 months has been fun and I’m proud of being part of that.

"This last season has been really great I think for the team and for me as well.

“I’ve been here through all the bad times and now it’s (been) good times this year. I feel very much part of that journey with the team with everything that’s been happening.

“That’s why it’s sad to not be continuing that because now it feels like we’re really starting to hit our stride as a team, fight higher up the field and it would have been nice to continue that next year. But that’s the way it is. I’m still proud of what I’ve done and I feel that it would have been nice to continue that next year.”