Despite a clash on the first lap that left his front wing broken, Marcus Ericsson made the medium tyres last 70 laps to finish an impressive 11th at the Mexican Grand Prix
After managing to get through to the second part of qualifying and securing 15th on the grid, Sauber were buoyed by this and confident they could challenge for their first point of the season.
However heading into Turn 1, the Swede was caught out in the midst of a scuffle between Esteban Gutierrez and Pascal Werhlein losing his front wing in the process.
“The collision at the start was unfortunate,” Ericsson said after the race. “To be honest, I was worried that it was going to be the end of my race after I was hit.
“I managed to get back to the pits to fit a new front wing. We also saw on the data that the car’s floor had been damaged. We kept on going, and I managed to get back into the rhythm, so the pace was still good.”
After just missing out on his and Sauber’s first point of the season, Ericsson was still pleased with his result adding: “It was a strong race today.”
Thanks to a Safety Car period, to recover Werhlein’s Manor, Ericsson could pit for repairs and bolt on a set of medium tyres.
Despite Sauber’s lack of raw pace through the 2016 season, Ericsson dragged every last ounce of performance he could get out of the C35 chassis. Getting so close to that elusive point as possible by making those tyres last an astonishingly 70 laps, it will help boost the team’s confidence for the final two races.
Ericsson added: “Today we were close to the points, but just not close enough. We as a team take a lot of positives from this weekend. It shows again that we are taking steps in the right direction. We will fight back in Brazil.”
