Ericsson banking on set-up changes to turn around fortunes

Marcus Ericsson will change his set-up approach in France this weekend in an attempt to make up the ground lost on his Sauber team mate Charles Leclerc.

The Swede has been comprehensively overshadowed by the rookie sitting on the other side of Sauber's garage, with Leclerc scoring his third top-ten finish for the Swiss outfit in Canada while Ericsson single points finish was in Bahrain.

The pressure is therefore mounting for the 27-year-old, and a change of approach to improve his performance is necessary.

"He's done a very good job and I've not been able to do the same," said Ericsson.

"Of course the pressure is building up then; that's normal in Formula 1, nothing strange about that. But I am convinced I can turn it around.

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"I've already had some good chats with my guys about what we need to do. We're going to try a lot of things for Paul Ricard. We're open minded and will try different things to find a way for me to improve.

"Obviously what we're doing is working very good for Charles, but for me I don't really seem to find the confidence with the way we have the car at the moment.

"So we need to maybe go a bit different to get me up there in qualy, in the races I'm normally quite good."

By his own admittance, Ericsson's main weakness appears to be linked to his performance on Pirelli's sifter tyres.

"It seems that with the softer compounds on one lap I just don't get the feeling that I need to get the maximum out of the car.

"So maybe it's a case for, in qualifying, we need to have a different setup for me to make me comfortable, especially on tracks with the softer compounds.

"It's things we need to look at, analyse and understand so we can make a step – that would be the key," he added.

"If you qualify higher up, then you won't get stuck behind slower cars. For me, that's the main focus. When the midfield is this close, we really need to find a way for me to get it right in qualifying."

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