Ericsson 'has to prove what he can do'

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Marcus Ericsson says that he's very aware that he needs to prove what he can do in Formula One, especially now that new investment in Sauber means that other drivers are potentially eyeing up his race seat at the team for for themselves for 2017.

"I think if I can perform on the same level as I have done in the first half of the year I should have a good chance [ of staying at Sauber next season," Ericsson told F1i in an exclusive interview this week.

"I think it’s difficult as always in Formula One when you are in a car that is not good enough to fight for points because people are not noticing you as much.

"It’s more difficult to show what you can do and show your skills so that has been one thing. I felt like have been performing really good but maybe not everyone has been noticing that.

"Hopefully in the second half of the year if we can get some updates on the car we can be a bit stronger and fight for points again. If that’s the case I’m sure I can show what I can do.

"I know myself that I have the pace," he insisted. "I think I’ve shown that in the second half of the year over the last two years but I was really determined to start this season strongly and that’s what I have been doing."

In order to display his racing wares, Ericsson will need to avoid the stumbles that he experienced at Monaco (where he clashed with team mate Felipe Nasr), Silverstone and Hungary (where he started both Grands Prix from the pit lane after accidents in preceding sessions.)

"I think Silverstone was unfortunate. You always look at what you could try and do different and I knew that the astroturfs were not dry and still I put half a wheel on it so it’s a bit of a silly thing to do," he admitted. "I think the Budapest one is probably not too much I could do to prevent it happening due to the conditions.

"[But I] had a really good first half of the year - if we don’t look at the last few weekends! - so I’ve been happy with the way things have been going," he summarised. "If we ignore those two weekends, the way I’ve been performing before that I think was really good and I just need to keep doing that."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.