Sauber Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn believes Marcus Ericsson could win races in Formula One in the right car.
The Swede has had a slow start to his career since being promoted from GP2 in 2014 beginning at the now defunct Caterham team before joining Sauber at the start of 2015.
Now, after two seasons with the Swiss outfit, Kaltenborn believes she sees enough in Ericsson to go on to greater success.
“You have to have that determination, have that opportunity and be at the right time at the right place and I don’t see why he can’t do that,” she told Autosport.
In his first year with the team, the 26-year-old was largely outshone by teammate Felipe Nasr, who scored almost three times the number of points as Ericsson did.
And while the headline result for Sauber last season may have also come from the Brazilian, ninth at his home race in Interlagos, Ericsson was, by and large, the better of the two drivers.
He won the qualifying battle and was the lead car on nine of the 13 occasions both Sauber’s crossed the finish line.
It is that improvement that has earned Ericsson the praise of his boss.
“He has taken a very big step up,” Kaltenborn claimed. “You see it in his whole appearance as well.
“He gives very valuable input to the team.
“He can definitely improve, there’s a lot to do. He knows his strengths and he will learn more, and with his own experience he will find his own limits and how he can work on them.”
Despite his improved performances, some still question Ericsson’s overall ability and label him as a ‘pay driver’ due to his sponsorship.
With that comes added pressure to prove those doubters wrong and Kaltenborn admires how the Swede has responded.
“That’s very important because it’s not easy for young drivers out there, when people have their prejudices with them, for them to even handle certain situations,” she said.
“He’s found his way and he’s learned how to focus much more on things that are really important to him.
“In the last races he really took a step up, there is a lot of potential to come from him.”
