Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson was aggrieved following a first lap incident with Nico Hulkenberg that resulted in both drivers retiring on the spot.
That being said, the Swede felt his strategy gave him and his team fresh optimism of a positive result in Sochi, but due to an unfortunate racing incident the 25-year old’s hopes went up in a shower of carbon fibre.
“A difficult weekend for me, but I was still optimistic for the race. As I started from the back of the field, we chose an alternative strategy starting on soft tyres. The start was good, as I was able to overtake a few cars going down to turn two. Then I suddenly saw Nico (Hulkenberg) facing the wrong way. I had nowhere to go and went into him.”
Despite his aggravations, Ericsson refused to let the collision get the better of him and appeared raring to go for the next race at the Circuit of The Americas in two weeks time.
“This is very disappointing as the car was quite competitive here. A missed opportunity, which is frustrating for me. Now I will recharge and try it again during the next race weekend.”
Remarkably, the Russian Grand Prix marks the former GP2 driver’s second classified retirement of the season, after his first came at the Malaysian Grand Prix in late March, ending a run of 12 races without retiring, during which he has finished in the points on four occasions.
