Marcus Ericsson

2014 was always supposed to be the year Marcus Ericsson came into F1 but it was all suppose to be done so differently. In the pre 2013 season it was announced, in a big blaze of glory, that Ericsson had signed for DAMS for the 2013 GP2 series and would be their lead driver. DAMS had secured the last two GP2 drivers championships and the already rated Ericsson would drive in the number 1 car in what was sure to be a dazzling championship season before his all out assault on F1 in 2014. Unfourtunatly it didn't happen like that as his car started the season by falling apart and he continued it by managing to find accidents and,while he scored a couple of impressive results, 6th in the GP2 championship must have been gutting. It wasn't that the speed wasn't there as he continued to score poles and fastest laps, it was just for some reason the results would not come.

Ericsson was born on September 2nd 1990 in Kumla, Sweden. Like most drivers he started his career in karts and this is where he came to the attention of 1999 indy 500 winner Kenny Brack who has been Financing his career ever since. Ericsson won Formula BMW, Won the Japanese F3 series, and got rookie of the year racing for Raikonens team in British F3. He even tested the Brawn F1 car at the young drivers test in 2009.

Ericsson came into GP2 in 2010 scoring a victory (and not much else) in his first year. In 2011 he drove for Isport and was outclassed by Sam Bird but in 2012 he strung together a brilliant second half of the season which meant he went in to 2013 as the favourite for the title.

So Ericsson's banner year didn't happen but he's still found his way into F1 but lets not underestimate the guy, he's quick and he loves a scrap. I can't wait to see him wheel banging with Kobi! However I just get the feeling that Ericsson is the sort of driver who will be half a lap away from a great result before a pigeon some how flies into his visor causing him to spin off rather than a future champion.

I have no doubt that Ericsson's Kimi like attitude and pace on Saturdays will win him some fans on Apex (I know Slyboogy has a soft spot for him already) but I have to warn you this driver just might break your heart.
 
Had a brief conversation in chat with Galahad on race day regarding Ericsson. He's actually starting to show signs of becoming quite a decent midfield driver with a couple of really good performances in a row.

He seems to be level pegging with Nasr too and we know he is no slouch. I might have to eat humble pie on some of the earlier comments I made on this thread.
 
It's always dangerous to judge drivers on their performances at real backmarker/cannon fodder teams. While Alonso drove beautifully in his debut season with Minardi in 2001, I've never forgotten that he looked a lot better than he would have done, relative to his team mate, because said team mate (5pts to anyone who said Tarso Marques) had to use steel brakes all year; team boss Paul Stoddart couldn't/wouldn't pay for two sets of carbon ones.

So maybe he was in the "Marques car" last season. Either that or Nasr isn't as good as I thought he was.
 
Galahad - I suspect that if either of the Caterham drivers were in the "Marques car", it was Kobayashi. Especially considering that they had him start 'n' park in Russia.

Ericsson had picked up form significantly in Suzuka, then the team collapsed!
 
I picked up one of Ericssons's under race suit tops in the Caterham auctions; I might ebay it while he's on a run of good form :thinking:
 
A genuine first then today: Ericsson crashing whilst overtaking the Safety Car as a lapped runner. I think he did a spin at Suzuka in 2014 under Safety Car too.

Facepalms all round.
 
Here is Ericsson's excuse:

“It has been a very tough weekend from the start to the end. With the pace we have had this weekend, the race was decent from my side. Unfortunately, I then had some issues with the brakes overheating behind the safety car. I tried to bring the brake temperature down, but at the same time I had to keep the tyres in the right working window. The combination of overheating brakes and cold tyres made me struggle a lot to stop the car, so I could not avoid sliding into the barriers.”
 
Ben Edwards and David Coulthard discussed this at length; how the cars lose temperature as the Safety Car isn't going fast enough (fast enough for whom? The marshals on the track?)

It's a thorny problem for sure. Then again, the car does have two pedals for this eventuality...
 
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Hes may have a point. I still dont rate ericsson but i might be underestimating him
 
Personal sponsors also acting as shareholders of the team and getting upgrades way ahead of your teammates makes life easier. Despite that, both Nasr and Wehrlein beat him, not by much as there wasn't much room for improvement in the disaster of a car the Sauber has been in the last few years but they beat him.
 
I was shocked (well not shocked) to see Sky give Marcus Ericsson a 5.5 out of ten and one of the lowest ratings for the Spanish Grand Prix. I thought he was fairly solid and put up some good defence against Sainz! He was marked even lower than Grosjean!
 
Meh. 0.8s slower than a rookie teammate in qualifying, 18s behind at the flag...i'd have said 6 at best. Finally he may be being shown up.
 
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