Sauber 'massively different' from last year - Ericsson

Marcus Ericsson has hailed Sauber's development this season which has elevated the team from the back of the grid to its current position of solid mid-field contender.

A commercial partnership with Alfa Romeo coupled with new-spec Ferrari engines has greatly boosted the Hinwil outfit's performance level, enabling the team to fight for points at every outing.

"It’s a massive difference," said Ericsson when describing the team's progress over the last 12 months.

"I think just coming from the financial side first of all, now the financial platform is a lot stronger, and everything builds from there.

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"And we’ve brought in some great people on the team, and people in the team have grown motivation with everything that’s going forward," he added.

"Now we’re in a completely differnt world to 12 months ago and it’s great to see.

"I think it’s impressive to see the way we have developed as a team in 12 months and it’s a great reward for all the hard work being put into the team."

However, building on its improvements will require a sustained effort from Sauber on the development front, but the Swedish driver is confident his team can keep implementing updates.

"I don’t see a reason why we should be dropping back more than other teams in the midfield," said the 27-year-old.

"That’s been our way this year that we bring updates more or less every race, not big packages, but bits and pieces all the time to keep improving the car and as far as I understand that’s what we’re going to keep doing.

"Compared to the midfield, which we are fighting, we should be able to do the same development, and then at some point you switch focus more and more on next year."

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