Marcus Ericsson thinks Sauber has exceeded expectations this year, including his own.
Coming off a dismal and pointless 2014 campaign, the Swiss outfit entered the current season with modest ambitions. Sauber was immediately on the back foot tough, with former reserve driver Giedo van der Garde demanding a race seat and opening legal actions against his former squad in Australia.
Sauber quickly recovered from this rocky start by bagging a strong haul of points in the season opener, courtesy of rookie Felipe Nasr’s fifth place and Ericsson’s P8.
While the Hinwill-based team has yet to match its Melbourne tally, it has been able to score points every other race on average to occupy eighth – ahead of McLaren-Honda – in the Constructors’ standings.
“I didn't really know what to expect,” Ericsson told the official Formula One website.
“Sauber is a team with a great history [it celebrated its 400th grand prix participation at Austin last month] but it also had a very difficult year last year so when I joined it was absolutely not clear what it would be and were we would start from.
“To be honest it outperformed my expectations: we have been points candidates in almost every race.”
Ericsson made his F1 debut with the now-defunct Caterham structure last year and found refuge at Sauber after the former Tony Fernandes-owned outfit entered administration in late 2014.
Having long been confirmed for 2016 along with Nasr, the Swede believes this will help their team make further headway on the recovery path.
“I think it will be better as it will give stability to the team,” the 25-year-old added.
“We know now the ins and outs; we know the working procedure; and we know the mentality. We are both very involved in next year's car, speaking with the engineers about what we want from the car.”
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