---
title: "Ericsson: Sauber battling Renault and Manor"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/04/15/ericsson-sauber-battling-renault-manor/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Kyran Gibbons"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2016-04-15T01:55:00Z"
modified: "2016-04-15T01:55:00Z"
---

# Ericsson: Sauber battling Renault and Manor

Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson has suggested that the team are currently battling both Renault and Manor, with McLaren out of reach at present, as F1’s 2016 pecking order begins to emerge following the opening two rounds of the season.

The Hinwil based squad finished the 2015 season eighth in the Constructors Championship, with their campaign being decidedly front loaded in regards to when the majority of their 36 points were obtained.

Having failed to record a points scoring finish in the opening two rounds of this season, 2016 appears to be a bigger challenge. McLaren have seemingly usurped the Swiss outfit and Manor, (formerly Marussia), have joined the battle at the lower tier of the midfield.

Ericsson, who is now in his second season with the team, was pragmatic in his assessment of the team’s current position during [Thursday’s FIA Press Conference](https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/headlines/2016/4/fia-thursday-press-conference---china.html); “I think that McLaren has done some decent steps so they are a bit far away from us at the moment. It seems like we are in a group with Renault and Manor is close behind. And then we are trying to fight the midfield.

“The Force Indias were struggling obviously in the race for different reasons but the group ahead of us is not too far, so let’s see on this track if we can be a bit more competitive.”

With Felipe Nasr finishing eighth and Ericsson coming home in tenth place at China last season, Sauber took five valuable points away from the event.

The strength of the 2016 Ferrari powertrain versus that of the Renault, stands the team in good stead in the battle with the French marquee this weekend, considering the circuit’s significant 1170 metre back straight.

“Hopefully now, coming to China, we have good memories from last year where we had both cars in Q3 and both cars in the points in the race,” Ericsson continued. “So hopefully this is a track that should suit us even better than Bahrain so it’s been a tough start but we’re looking forward to a good weekend.”