Ericsson 'willing to go that extra mile' - Kaltenborn

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn says Marcus Ericsson has been retained because he has shown he is "willing to go that extra mile" for the team.

Ericsson's stay was confirmed by Sauber on Monday morning, with the Swede remaining with the team for a third consecutive season. Despite not scoring a point so far this season - with Sauber's only points to date coming courtesy of Felipe Nasr in Brazil - Kaltenborn says Ericsson's approach to working with the team was a key factor in his contract extension.

“We are very pleased to announce that Marcus will remain our race driver for the Sauber F1 Team in 2017," Kaltenborn said. "During the current season Marcus has again showed he is willing to go that extra mile in order to make progress.

"He went through very difficult times with us, but managed those very well. In the last two years, he has made significant steps in regards to his personal development, proving his skills on as well as off track, especially when circumstances are not easy.

"He is not only a good driver, but also an important team player who understands how to work with the team and how to motivate everyone with his positive attitude. Formula One goes into a new era in 2017, and I am confident that we can count on Marcus to bring the team back into the competition.”

Sauber's announcement leaves just three seats available on the 2017 grid, with one more seat at the Swiss team along with two vacancies at Manor.

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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.